LOGAN — Friday night’s best and most entertaining drama wasn’t playing out on television screens across the state, or at plays, musicals, concerts or the like.
Rather, it took place in the quarterfinals and semifinals of the 127th Utah State Amateur golf tournament, leaving in its wake a couple of college golfers who survived the grueling day at picturesque Logan Country Club to advance to Saturday’s 36-hole championship match.
BYU senior Simon Kwon, the champion two years ago at The Country Club in Salt Lake City, will face Arizona State freshman Bowen Mauss, a recent Corner Canyon High graduate, at 9:30 a.m. in Logan.
If Saturday’s action — pushed back 90 minutes to avoid heavy winds roaring down Logan Canyon — is anything like what happened Friday, spectators are in for a treat.
Friday, they kind of saved the best for last — notwithstanding Noah Schone’s chip-in from 60 feet away for eagle on No. 18 to upset BYU-bound Jackson Shelley 1 up in a morning quarterfinal — as Mauss outlasted 2023 runner-up David Liechty by winning four of the last five holes in an epic and memorable semifinal.
Mauss won the match by making a 10-foot birdie putt from just off the 18th green, that after flirting with out of bounds right with his tee shot on the short Par 4 and then getting up and down from a gnarly lie in the deep rough.
Mauss, who had downed his older brother, BYU’s Jackson Mauss, 1 up in a morning quarterfinal — more on that in a bit — looked dead when Liechty went 3 up with a par on No. 13.
But he rallied back, took advantage of Liechty’s out-of-bounds troubles on No. 14 and a too-deep chip on No. 15 to get back in the match.
A little bit of drama occurred on No. 17, with Liechty clinging to a one-hole lead. After Liechty’s chip hit a tree branch and fell short of the green, his caddy and younger brother moved a twig and noticed that the ball moved ever so slightly.
Liechty called the penalty on himself, and eventually conceded the hole to square the match — but only after Bowen Mauss nearly called a penalty on himself.
After blasting out of a greenside bunker to within 8 feet, Mauss said he thought he might have caught some sand on his takeaway.
After a lengthy conference that involved him, his brother, who was graciously caddying for him after losing to him, and several Utah Golf Association officials, it was deemed that nobody saw the sand move and no penalty was assessed.
Had it been deemed that Mauss touched the sand, match play golf rules stipulate that he would have lost the hole, and therefore the match.
With Liechty laying 5 and Mauss laying 3, Liechty conceded the hole and off they went to No. 18 all square.
As Mauss approached the green after a masterful flop shot out of the rough, his brother told him it was “makeable, for sure.”
And that it was.
“I really hadn’t made a putt all week,” Mauss said.
As for his brother caddying for him after losing to him earlier in the day — the second match in the 2025 State Am that pitted brothers, Jackson Shelley having downed Austin Shelley on Thursday in the Round of 16 — Bowen Mauss agreed that it was a magnanimous gesture before adding, “Well, he had to stay up here anyway because he doesn’t have a car.”
Seriously, Bowen said Jackson gave him a lot of help reading greens, which was a key to his come-from-behind win.
A few moments after the heartbreaking loss, Liechty — who lost to Kwon in the 2023 final before serving a church mission — told his brother “don’t beat yourself up over this” and refused to dwell on the mishap in his post-match interview.
“I am not sure if it was the twig or if it was just moving, but the ball kind of like oscillated a little,” said Liechty, who will play for Utah Tech this fall. “So, penalty there. … It stings a little (to lose that way), but it’s golf and you have to come back from it.
“There’s always next year. There’s a lot of tournaments out there, so you just keep doing your best.”
How Simon Kwon advanced to the finals, again
Kwon, the grandson of Golf Hall of Famer and former television analyst Johnny Miller, improved to an incredible 17-2 in matches in the last four State Amateurs.
Kwon, who transferred from Cal to BYU after winning the 125th State Amateur, edged former Olympus High golfer John Fox 3 and 2 in a quarterfinal and then ended Schone’s magical run in an afternoon semifinal that was close until Kwon went on a tear on the back nine.
“It was a heck of a week,” said Schone, a St. George business owner (he makes lithium batteries for golf carts). “I am super pleased with everything, from start to finish. … I shot 67-66 and was the medalist. I made it to the semifinals and lost to a very good BYU golfer. You can’t ask for much else.”
Schone, 26, called the chip-in that eliminated Jackson Shelley “probably the No. 1 shot of my golf career. To do it on the 18th hole, the match all square, it was something I’ve dreamed of.”
Said Shelley, a BYU signee who will start a church mission to Seoul, Korea, on Monday: “Nothing much you can do about that.”
Kwon is known for his calm, relaxed demeanor, but showed some rare emotion when he rolled in an 8-foot birdie putt on No. 13 to go 5 up on Schone.
He closed the match out on No. 14 — the old No. 5 at Logan CC — to get into his third State Am final in the past four years.
“I was just trying to keep it mellow, and then the energy just kind of kept building up, building up and building up,” Kwon said, “and I just kind of let it out.”
Ironically, Kwon didn’t enter the State Am playing his best, and he didn’t see the course until a practice round last week. He said he had a good chat with his uncle, BYU director of golf Todd Miller, after finishing “dead last” at the North & South Amateur in North Carolina, and was told by Miller that his game looked good and he had nothing to worry about.
Turns out, uncle Miller was right.
He also had a talk with his mental coach, who told him to think of three things he is grateful for whenever he gets nervous. So what are they?
“I’m thankful for my parents. I’m thankful for the opportunity to play golf and I’m thankful for my Heavenly Father,” he said.
127th Utah State Amateur
At Logan Country Club
Friday’s Results
Quarterfinal matches
Noah Schone def. Jackson Shelley, 1 up
Simon Kwon def. John Fox, 3 and 2
Bowen Mauss def. Jackson Mauss, 1 up
David Liechty def. Jack Summerhays, 3 and 1BYU
Semifinal matches
Simon Kwon def. Noah Schone, 6 and 4
Bowen Mauss def. David Liechty, 1 up
Saturday’s Championship Match
No. 1 tee, 36 holes
Simon Kwon vs. Bowen Mauss, 9:30 a.m.
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