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Davis Johnson’s Win at Wohali leads Utes Golf
The University of Utah golf program’s hosting of The Wohali was nearly two years in the making. The planning covered seemingly every aspect of a tournament operation, except for not having enough trophies.
Playoffs rarely are staged in college golf events, accommodating travel schedules. So the Ute athletic department was left with an additional assignment Tuesday, ordering duplicate awards after Arizona State and New Mexico shared the team title and Utah’s Davis Johnson and ASU’s Connor Williams were co-medalists.
The home team left Wohali Golf Club in Coalville feeling more motivated than discouraged, in the words of Ute Coach Garrett Clegg, after finishing one stroke behind the Sun Devils and Lobos.
As for the site of Utah’s first home event in Clegg’s 10th season, Wohali provided spectacular scenery and a tough test at nearly 8,000 yards with 6,000-plus feet of elevation. The course was reasonably challenging in Monday morning’s round, overly difficult in the afternoon wind and scorable in the final round, after overnight rain.
“The golf course is beautiful, amazing; it’s one of the best ones we have in Utah,” Clegg said. “It played a little tougher than I thought it would.”
ASU Coach Matt Thurmond described it as “an awesome test,” although the surroundings made him feel personally less stressed than ever during a tournament. “I really just enjoyed the walk.”
The Sun Devils’ play followed the weather pattern. With four of five players’ scores counting in each round, ASU shot 11 under par, then 12 over, then 15 under.
Individually, Johnson bogeyed the par-5 No. 18 as Williams tied him. Otherwise, the 2024 State Amateur semifinalist played highly consistent golf for three rounds (68-70-69), posting a 9-under-par total. “He battled his heart out,” Clegg said. “He made an amazing birdie on 17 to even be in that position.”
Utes Golf’s Davis Johnson earned his second collegiate individual win at The Wohali.
Johnson’s second-round steadiness paid off in the end. Wohali is “really difficult,” he said. “It tests your patience a lot, (with) some of the firmest greens I’ve played on. With the wind on top of that … just had to stay patient, trust yourself, trust your numbers.”
A holed-out shot from 135 yards for an eagle on the par-4 No. 8 highlighted Johnson’s final round. Ute teammates Gabriel Palacios (72-68-66) and Brandon Robison (68-75-67) also placed in the top 10. Sergio Jimenez’s triple bogey on No. 18 was costly. “He’s going to live with that for a long time,” said Clegg, while making the point that every hole counts the same over three rounds.
Clegg believes any of his four veterans could be a No. 1 player in a lot of programs. Much will be asked of them in 2025-26, and the emergence of a fifth golfer would help. Junior college transfer Adam Croiz earned the spot to begin the year, but didn’t have a counting score at Wohali.
“We’ve got some work, to become a great golf program,” Clegg said, “but we have a whole year to work on that.”
BYU finished fourth, eight strokes behind Utah. The Cougars were led by top-10 finishers Simon Kwon (68-74-65) and Kihei Akina (70-74-67), who made his collegiate debut.
ASU’s two native Utahns, Boston Bracken and Bowen Mauss, have contributed to two tournament victories to begin the Sun Devils’ 10th season under Thurmond, a BYU graduate. Bracken tied for 14th place, even though his 70 didn’t count Tuesday, and Mauss tied for 24th with a closing 69, although he bogeyed the last two holes.
ASU Freshman Boston Bracken
“It feels great,” Bracken said of ASU’s season-opening success. “We’re having an absolute blast.”
Mauss, the 2025 State Amateur champion, said, “I didn’t have my best stuff this week, but to battle with these guys has been really fun.”
(L-R) ASU Freshman and current Utah State Amateur champion Bowen Mauss with his brother BYU’s Jackson Mauss. (photo courtesy of Justin Mauss)
ASU had not started a season with consecutive titles since at least 1991, according to the program’s record book. The Utahns are “off to a great start,” Thurmond said. “I knew they were good; they’re even better than I thought. They’ve brought incredible energy to the team.”
The Sun Devils will play in Illinois’ tournament, beginning Friday. The next event for both Utah and BYU is Washington’s Tindall Invitational, starting Monday.
SOLDIER HOLLOW INDIVIDUAL
One unique aspect of The Wohali was the opportunity for individual competition at a second site. College teams often have extra players travel and compete individually, but this was different: Multiple programs had individuals play alongside selected Utah high school golfers at Soldier Hollow Golf Course, where there was time for a playoff to crown a winner in the 59-player field.
Utah junior golfer Ben Wilson earned a T1 finish in the Utes Golf Soldier Hollow Individual tournament.
UCLA’s Tyler Loree (68-65-77) birdied the first extra hole to top Corner Canyon High School’s Ben Wilson (70-71-69), a son of Ute assistant coach Keith Wilson. Four other high school golfers were in the top 10: Lone Peak’s Ryder Huish and Blake Brown, Lehi’s Crue Harward and Morgan’s Jace Benson.
Ute freshman Kade McDonough finished fifth. Utah Tech’s Tanner Telford and David Liechty were in the top 10, as the Trailblazers played strictly in Midway.
Utes Golf The Wohali collegiate tournament feature written by Fairways Media senior writer Kurt Kragthorpe. Photography by Fairways Media/Randy Dodson unless otherwise noted.