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127th Utah State Amateur: Meet the Quarterfinalists 

Brotherly competition and family history remain major themes of the 127th Utah State Amateur Championship.

The Mauss brothers, Bowen and Jackson, will meet in one quarterfinal match Friday morning. There almost were two more sets of brothers among the remaining eight contestants, but 2023 champion Simon Kwon eliminated a friend he views almost as a brother, and a member of the Summerhays golf dynasty knocked off the stroke-play medalist’s brother.

The quarterfinal pairings: Noah Schone vs. Jackson Shelley, John Fox vs. Simon Kwon, Bowen Mauss vs. Jackson Mauss and David Liechty vs. Jack Summerhays. The semifinals will follow in the afternoon and the 36-hole final match is scheduled Saturday.

Friday morning’s matches were determined after an adventurous Thursday in Logan that included one of the longest matches in State Am history. Will Pizza’s win over Gavin Dosch in a meeting of Corner Canyon High School players of the present and past came in 25 holes, two short of the record set by Tod Budge and Matt Johnson in 1988.

Noah Schone

Nobody is playing better golf than Schone through four days of the State Am, and that’s especially true of the past three days in Logan. The medalist from St. George posted a 66 in the second round and ended each of his three matches by No. 15, including a 4-and-3 win over Corner Canyon senior Tyse Boman in the round of 16.

Jackson Shelley

After struggling to win his first-round match, never leading until the first extra hole vs. Hunter Nelson, Shelley has been outstanding. The highlight of his 3-and-2 win over younger brother Austin in the round of 16 was a 4-iron second shot that rattled the flagstick on the par-5 No. 12, leading to an easy birdie.

In the afternoon, Shelley was a 5-and-4 winner over Sean Lam, who was three years ahead of Shelley at Skyline. On Monday, Shelley begins a two-year church mission that will take him to South Korea.

John Fox

The former Olympus High School golfer is not a State Am unknown anymore, after shooting a 63 in stroke play in Ogden last summer and reaching the round of 16.

That success “gave me a lot of confidence,” said Fox, figuring he could make a deeper run in Logan.

Even so, his 1-up victory over 2021 champion Martin Leon has to rank as an upset. Fox won the last two holes with pars, after Leon won the last two holes vs. 2008 winner Dan Horner in the round of 16.

Horner extended his matches-played record to 52. With a 35-17 mark, he’s two wins shy of Bill Korns’ all-time record.

Simon Kwon

Kwon is 15-2 in State Am matches over the past four years, with two appearances in the final match. He described the 15th win as “bittersweet,” considering he and Tyson Shelley have been high school and college teammates for several years. Kwon was a groomsman in Shelley’s wedding last month.

“Weirdly, I don’t know why I’m getting emotional, but Tyson’s literally one of my best friends,” Kwon said as he stood behind the No. 16 green after his 3-and-2 win. “I just really love that kid.”

They’ve played together at Skyline and BYU, a partnership interrupted only by Kwon’s two years at the University of California. Kwon managed to compartmentalize his feelings on the back nine, winning the last four holes via a series of excellent tee shots.

Kwon is among the BYU golfers who have won six of the last 10 titles. He joins teammate Jackson Mauss in the quarterfinals; Jackson Shelley intends to join the Cougars in 2027.

Bowen Mauss  

In a bracket that has a son of Daniel Summerhays in the quarterfinals, the 127th State Am will have brothers meet at that stage for the first time since 2000 when Daniel beat his older brother Boyd.

Bowen Mauss, who led Corner Canyon to the Class 6A state title in October, three days after playing in the PGA Tour’s Black Desert Championship, is headed to Arizona State.

Jackson Mauss

Jackson Mauss had a long wait for the Pizza-Dosch match to conclude, amid fears that the day’s last duel might last until dark. But the Corner Canyon alumnus needed only 15 holes to beat Pizza, a current Charger.

Mauss holed a greenside bunker shot for an eagle on the par-4 No. 9 after nearly driving the green.

David Liechty

Liechty, a Layton High School graduate, is 9-2 in State Am matches in the past three years. That record includes a final-match loss to Kwon in 2023 and one win last summer in Ogden, while being allowed to play in occasional tournaments during his home-based church service mission. He signed with Utah Tech University in 2023.

Jack Summerhays

The Farmington High School senior already became part of State Am history this week, when he was one of three great-grandsons of Pres Summerhays to advance to the round of 64. His success is adding another layer to the family’s 100-tournament span of match-play appearances that started with Pres in 1926 in Salt Lake City.

Jack is a son and cousin of two-time State Am champions Daniel and Preston, respectively. With a 3-and-1 win, he kept Lucas Schone from joining Noah Schone in the quarterfinals.

Utah State Amateur Round of 32 & 16 written by Fairways Media senior writer Kurt Kragthorpe. Photos by Fairways Media/Garrit Johnson.