Arizona State golfer Grace Summerhays served notice Tuesday at Jeremy Ranch Country Club that she will be a force to be reckoned with this year at the 117th Utah Women’s State Amateur golf tournament.
Summerhays, who was born in Utah before moving to Scottsdale, Arizona, with her famous golf-playing family when she was a child, shot a 2-under-par 70 at the Arnold Palmer-designed course in Parleys Canyon to win medalist honors in the stroke-play qualifying portion of the tournament.
The champion in 2020 at Soldier Hollow Golf Course, Summerhays will be the No. 1 seed when match play begins Wednesday morning. Summerhays was 16 when she won in 2020, becoming the youngest champion in event history.
And she will have a little chip on her shoulder this year in the Round of 32, after she was eliminated in the Round of 16 last year by former New Mexico golfer Sarah Salvo, who is not entered this year.
BYU golfer Adeline Anderson, the 2021 medalist who lost in the championship match last year to five-time champion Kelsey Chugg, is the No. 2 seed for match play after firing a 1-under 71 on Tuesday.
Utah Tech golfer Jane Olson of Riverton, BYU golfer Kerstin Fotu Ngakuru and Aadyn Long of Lone Peak High tied for third in qualifying Tuesday with even-par 72s.
Summerhays is no stranger to pressure-packed golf, having competed in the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links in early July.
“I usually tell (people) I am from Arizona, but I still got a lot of Utah in me,” Summerhays told the Deseret News before the U.S. Women’s Open. “Our family appreciates all the support we get from Utah.”
This is the third year of a new tournament format in which the cut for stroke-play qualifying came after 18 holes instead of 36 and the match play field expanded from 16 to 32.
Play was suspended at 2:54 p.m. due to lightning in the area. It resumed three hours and 20 minutes later. At 7:30 p.m., with several players still on the course, the cut line was projected to be at +10.
Tournament officials said that if a playoff is needed for the last few playoff berths, the playoff will be held Wednesday morning before match play begins.