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Alpine • If you are more than 50 years old, or played golf recently for nearby Lone Peak High School, chances are you had a pretty good day in the 118th Utah State Amateur at Alpine Country Club on Wednesday.
The field was trimmed from 64 to 32 as the match-play portion of the longest continuously held golf tournament in the world began, and everywhere you looked, "one of us old guys," as 53-year-old Salt Lake City businessman Dana Nelson put it, or a teenager, was seemingly winning his match.
Sure, the college golfers fared well, as they usually do, but this day belonged to the young and not-so-young, guys who have to work for a living or are barely shaving, if that.
The tournament continues Thursday with Round of 32 and Round of 16 matches, meaning just eight golfers will be left standing at day's end in the quest to put their names on the historic trophy.
The quarterfinals and semifinals are Friday, and the 36-hole championship match is Saturday.
History of some sort is almost always made at the State Am, and Wednesday was no different, as 13-year-old Preston Summerhays of Scottsdale, Ariz., Boyd's son and PGA Tour player Daniel Summerhays' nephew, became the youngest State Am competitor ever to make match play.
However, the young Summerhays was schooled 5 and 4 by Davis Evans.
"I learned a lot," he said.
The upset of the day was pulled off by another teenager, recent Lone Peak graduate Ryan Barber. The 18-year-old who will leave on a church mission to Iowa next month defeated 2015 runner-up and 1998 champion Darrin Overson, 3 and 2.
"I knew he was good, but I don't think he played his best round," said Barber, who took control with a long birdie putt on No. 11 and another tweeter on No. 12, both tough holes, and closed it out with a par on No. 16. "I knew on a normal day on my home course I could probably shoot two or three under and had a chance to beat him."
Barber's LP teammate, rising sophomore Zach Jones, 15, also took down a seasoned amateur, knocking off Provo restaurant owner Jason Hargett, 2 and 1.
"A lot of pressure, a lot of nerves, but it was really fun," said Jones, who had about a dozen supporters, including his parents and four siblings. "The short putts, you are shaking over them, and you are thinking thoughts you shouldn't be. But you just try to forget it and do what you've been practicing all your life."
Yeah, all 15 years of it.
Another Lone Peaker also rolled, as stroke-play medalist Carson Lundell, 18, stayed hot and walloped playoff survivor Brett Sampson 7 and 6 in the day's first match. A fourth member of Lone Peak's three-time 5A championship team, Joshua Rooker, lost a tight match to Mitchell Schow Jr., a Utah golf signee from Park City.
Outgoing Ute golfer Steven Croft ousted the 2012 and 2014 champion, Jon Wright, after trailing by two holes through No. 13.
In the day's only matchup of a Ute and a Cougar (sort of), outgoing Utah golfer Jose Pelayo downed former BYU golfer Dalton Stanger 2 and 1 by winning the last three holes. (Stanger now plays for BYU-Hawaii.)
Any rivalry smack?
"Not from me, no," said Pelayo, from Temecula, Calif. "It was just a great match. We were a combined 9 under par at the turn, with me 4 under and him 5 under [par]."
At the other end of the age spectrum, the 53-year-old Nelson and not-quite-as-old Bob Mitchell ate lunch together after State Am regular Nelson took a 4 and 3 win, the first State Am match play win for the UGA Senior Match Play champion "in a long, long time," he said.
The 50-somethings went 3-1 on Wednesday, by Nelson's count, as Sampson lost to the red-hot Lundell, 1985 State Am champion Steve Borget, 56, downed Rand Sargent, and Patrick Murphy dumped U. golfer Gentry Hicks in 20 holes.
"I don't hold any illusions [of winning it all]," Nelson said. "My goal is to be the longest surviving old guy, stay around longer than anyone else my age."
He's well on his way, provided he doesn't run into any of those Lone Peak kids.
Twitter: @drewjay —
118th Utah State Amateur match-play highlights
R Led by Ryan Barber's 3 and 2 upset of 2015 runner-up Darrin Overson and 15-year-old Zach Jones' 2 and 1 win over seasoned amateur Jason Hargett, members of Lone Peak's 5A state championship golf team go 3-1 in Round of 64 matches.
• University of Utah golfer Steven Croft eliminates 2012 and 2014 champion Jon Wright, 2 up.
• Preston Summerhays, 13, becomes the youngest match-play competitor in State Am history, but loses 5 and 4 to Davis Evans. —
Wednesday's match-play results
• Carson Lundell def. Brett Sampson, 7 and 6
• Steve Borget def. Rand Sargent, 1 up
• Patrick Murphy def. Gentry Hicks, 20 holes
• Kyler Dearden def. Bradley Collet, 2 and 1
• Ben Jorgensen def. Clint Christiansen, 2 and 1
• Cameron Crawford def. Andrew Crockett, 8 and 7
• Brady Stanger def. Spencer Lillywhite, 6 and 4
• Ariel Elftman-Hanson def. Darrin Railsback, 6 and 5
• Aaron Smith def. Preston Richards, 3 and 1
• John Owen def. Charlie Duensing, 3 and 2
• Brandon Kida def. Randy Hadfield, 3 and 2
• Dan Horner def. Tommy Johnson, 4 and 2
• Clark Rustand def. Ryder Velasquez, 5 and 3
• Reed Nielsen def. Glen W. Spencer, 4 and 3
• Mitchell Schow Jr. def. Joshua Rooker, 3 and 2
• Zach Jones def. Jason Hargett, 2 and 1
• Jose Pelayo def. Dalton Stanger, 2 and 1
• CJ Lee def. Clay Bingham, 20 holes
• Alex Stulce def. Braydon Swapp, 2 up
• Dana Nelson def. Robert Mitchell, 4 and 3
• Ryan Barber def. Darrin Overson, 3 and 2
• Tyson Tanner def. Ryan Budge, 3 and 2
• Alec Bone def. Casey Halliday, 1 up
• Davis Evans def. Preston Summerhays, 5 and 4
• Patrick Fishburn def. Colton Tanner, 3 and 2
• Kurt Owen def. Austin Jaramillo, 5 and 4
• Steven Croft def. Jon Wright, 2 up
• Tommy Forsman def. Brigham Gibbs, 2 up
• Carl Jensen def. Cody Bassett, 3 and 1
• Chris Cole def. Brennan Coburn, 2 and 1
• Kai Ruiz def. Devery Stewart, 8 and 7
• Ryan Brimley def. Kenny You, 2 and 1 —
Thursday's schedule
Round of 32 matches
7:30 a.m. • Lundell vs. Borget
7:39 a.m. • Murphy vs. Dearden
7:48 a.m. • Jorgensen vs. Crawford
7:57 a.m. • Br. Stanger vs. Elftman-Hanson
8:06 a.m. • Smith vs. Owen
8:15 a.m. • Kida vs. Horner
8:24 a.m. • Rustand vs. Nielsen
8:33 a.m. • Schow vs. Jones
8:42 a.m. • Pelayo vs. Lee
8:51 a.m. • Stulce vs. Nelson
9 a.m. • Barber vs. Tanner
9:09 a.m. • Bone vs. Evans
9:18 a.m. • Fishburn vs. Owen
9:27 a.m. • Croft vs. Forsman
9:36 a.m. • Jensen vs. Cole
9:45 a.m. • Ruiz vs. Brimley
Round of 16 matches
Noon • Lundell-Borget winner vs. Murphy-Dearden winner
12:09 p.m. • Jorgensen-Crawford winner vs. Stanger-Elftman winner
12:18 p.m. • Smith-Owen winner vs. Kida-Horner winner
12:27 p.m. • Rustand-Nielsen winner vs. Schow-Jones winner
12:36 p.m. • Pelayo-Lee winner vs. Stulce-Nelson winner
12:45 p.m. • Barber-Tanner winner vs. Bone-Evans winner
12:54 p.m. • Fishburn-Owen winner vs. Croft-Forsman winner
1:03 p.m. • Jensen-Cole winner vs. Ruiz-Brimley winner