Utah sports icon and PGA Tour star Tony Finau was confronted by about a dozen sign-holding protesters Monday morning when he arrived at the front gates of Utah’s Oakridge Country Club in Farmington to host his annual golf tournament and clinic.
The peaceful protesters spent 2 1/2 hours outside the club’s gates waving signs alleging that Finau has failed to repay them or their family members and business associates for money and/or time they say helped the former Salt Lake City resident make it big in professional golf.
“This is all about awareness,” said protest organizer Rocky Bowlby, founder and former co-owner of Dental Select. “No one knows the real Tony.”
Finau’s family arrived in a vehicle driven by another individual, with the pro golfer sitting in the passenger’s seat, at 8:51 a.m., about two hours after protesters had arrived. The vehicle slowed briefly to get clearance to enter the parking lot, but it did not stop to acknowledge the protesters as Finau looked on through a window.
The signs included messages such as “Keep Your Word” and “Tony Pay Your Debts” and “Tony Pay Your Family Back” and “Tony Don’t Forget Uncle Toa.” Other signs were directed at the Tony Finau Foundation and the Utah Sports Commission — which sponsors this week’s Utah Championship at Oakridge.
Created in 2000, the Utah Sports Commission is a state-funded entity whose mission is to “enhance Utah’s economy and image and quality of life through the attraction, promotion and development of national and international sports events and to be a catalyst for Utah in its sport and Olympic legacy efforts,” according to its website.
When the Deseret News entered the club’s parking lot in an attempt to get a comment from Finau regarding the protest, Finau’s management team and/or USC officials told the news outlet that Monday’s affair was a “private event” and was asked to leave the property.
Jamie Stokes, who called himself a “contract employee” of the Utah Sports Commission, said only credentialed reporters for Monday’s event — employees of the Golf Channel, in essence — were allowed on the grounds of the private club. Stokes said credentials issued for the golf tournament, which the Deseret News has been granted, are not valid until Tuesday.
Before the news outlet was asked to leave, it sought a comment from Chelsea Fairbourn, executive director of the Tony Finau Foundation. But she referred all questions to members of Finau’s management team, Chris Armstrong and Jordan Snowie of the Wasserman Sports and Talent Agency.
Armstrong was recently named president of hockey operations for the new Utah Hockey Club of the NHL, but will remain “minimally involved” with Finau’s representation, Fairbourn said. He has previously offered a “no comment” reply to the Deseret News when asked for a response from Finau.
Bowlby said Finau or his family members such as father Kelepi “Gary” Finau and brother Gipper Finau owe him more than $100,000 for loans, rent payments, cars, travel to China, and the like, but he is not seeking compensation through legal action.
However, his friend Molonai Hola is, and has been for almost four years.
Bowlby said he was there to support Hola, a former University of Utah football player and onetime Salt Lake City mayoral candidate, and “more than 10 people” he says are owed money from the Finau family.
At least one of Hola’s sons was on the picket line Monday morning, but Hola was not.
Hola, a former family friend and business associate, filed a lawsuit against one of the top 25 golfers in the world in 2020, saying more than $600,000 is owed to him for financing the brothers’ pro golf careers for a three-year period from 2006 to 2009 before Tony Finau made the PGA Tour in 2014.
Hola also seeks 20% of Finau’s winnings on tour, according to court documents.
According to Spotrac.com, Finau’s career earnings in golf alone are more than $55 million.
In January, Judge James Brady of Utah’s 4th Judicial District Court scheduled an eight-day jury trial for the case to begin in September 2024 in Provo. A source said there has been “some talk” of an out-of-court settlement, but those seem to have fizzled, and the case almost certainly will go to trial.
Brady held a summary judgement review of one aspect of the case on July 22 with attorneys from both sides participating remotely via teleconference, but has yet to render an opinion on that particular matter. At issue is whether Hola’s “unjust enrichment” claim should include a percentage of Finau’s career earnings into perpetuity, a figure that could be in the millions, perhaps tens of millions.
A second lawsuit against Finau and his family, filed by Utah County real estate developer David Hunter in May 2021, was dismissed by the district court in 2022, with the judge citing statute of limitations issues on the breach-of-contract claim. It was appealed to the Utah Court of Appeals last summer but dismissed again in February. The Utah Supreme Court declined to hear the case on May 6, effectively ending Hunter’s claim.
