Seven golfers with Utah ties will take aim at Korn Ferry Tour’s Utah Championship this week

OGDEN — Having gotten married a month ago to Bountiful Junior High vice principal Kennedy Murdock, former University of Utah standout golfer Mitchell Schow says he loves his new in-laws a lot.

The 2020 Utah State Amateur champion is just tired of living with them in Sandy.

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That’s why the 29-year-old professional golfer, who grew up in Ogden and graduated from Park City High and then the University of Utah in 2021, is laser-focused on playing well in the Korn Ferry Tour’s Utah Championship this week at Ogden Golf & Country Club. Schow and another Ogden native, former Georgia Tech golfer Connor Howe, received sponsors’ exemptions to play in the PGA Tour-branded event, which is in Ogden for the second straight year and begins Thursday with the usual Utah flair.

“I would love to win, get some status (on a golf tour), and hopefully buy a house,” Schow said of his expectations this week. “I love my in-laws, but we’re living with them right now, so if there’s any pressure to win, that’s it.”

Howe, who attended Weber High before a stellar five-year career at Georgia Tech, is also hoping for a high finish to continue his professional golf career. He’s been playing on the PGA Tour Americas, and is fresh off a T3 finish at that tour’s Osprey Valley Open.

“Making the cut is always a goal, especially at a hometown event like this,” Howe said. “A top 25 would get me into the next week’s (Korn Ferry) event, and would be considered a success. I feel like I know this course better than anyone, so a win is definitely the goal.”

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Last year, after Monday-qualifying, Howe shot 11-under and tied for 37th to pocket $5,250, while Schow shot 8-under and tied for 54th to earn $4,150. Preston Summerhays, who grew up in Farmington before graduating from Arizona State, was the top finisher with Utah ties, shooting a 15-under to tie for seventh.

With full status on the KFT, Summerhays is back in this year’s event, along with his uncle, Daniel Summerhays. Others with Utah ties in the 156-player field include former BYU golfers Carson Lundell and Zac Jones and former Weber State golfer Barry Schenk, who now lives in Sandy.

Lundell recently won the Colorado Open and got a $50,000 payday.

Jones shot a 10-under 62 and Lundell shot a 9-under 63 at Glen Eagle GC on Monday to qualify, while Schenk advanced with a 64. New BYU golfer David Liechty, from Layton, came close but lost in a playoff.

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Another former BYU golfer on the KFT, Peter Kuest, has been sidelined by an injury.

Having gone the qualifying route last year, Schow said he was “excited” when he got the call from Jeff Robbins of the Utah Sports Commission letting him know he was in.

“Being able to play in Ogden is always a gift, especially when it is on a stage like this, the Korn Ferry Tour,” Schow said. “Plus, I have so many family and friends here that it will be nice to kind of see a couple of them come out.”

Schow said he’s been playing Monday qualifiers and a few mini-tour events the past year, while also working part-time for his father’s hardwood flooring business. His father’s friend from high school, Steve Biakanja, will be on his bag.

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“I’ve been caddying for Mitchell since he was 8 years old,” Biakanja said, having flown in from Pleasanton, California, specifically for this event.

Schow said he’s played Ogden Country Club “probably 50 times” and feels as comfortable on the course as any in America.

But he’s got nothing on Howe, whose parents are longtime members of the club on Washington Boulevard in South Ogden.

“Last year was pretty surreal, just to have it here where I have played hundreds of times,” Howe said. “This year there will be maybe a few less nerves. I know the drill. I’ve done it before. I can’t wait to get it started.”

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Howe’s caddie will be his brother, former Weber State and University of Utah golfer Hunter Howe, who is now a teaching pro at Ogden G&CC.

In 2024 at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington, Howe made the cut and shot a final-round 64 to tie for 36th. If he can string four similar rounds together this year, he can challenge for the title and perhaps get back on the KFT — or at least make it to next week’s stop in Omaha, Nebraska.

Last year, former Duke player Julian Suri won with an 18-under tally of 262, and five others tied for second at 16-under.

The purse in the Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank and International Health is $1 million, with $180,000 going to the champion.

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Thursday’s tee times of golfers with Utah ties in Korn Ferry Tour’s Utah Championship

At Ogden Golf & Country Club

• Daniel Summerhays, former BYU golfer, Farmington, 8:05 a.m., No. 1 tee

• Preston Summerhays, former ASU golfer, Farmington, 9:05 a.m., No. 1 tee

• Connor Howe, former Georgia Tech golfer, Ogden, 9:15 a.m., No. 1 tee

• Carson Lundell, former BYU golfer, Alpine, 9:15 a.m., No. 10 tee

• Zac Jones, former BYU golfer, Highland, 2:30 p.m., No. 1 tee

• Barry Schenk, former Weber State golfer, Sandy, 2:30 p.m., No. 1 tee

• Mitchell Schow, former Utah golfer, Ogden, 2:30 p.m., No. 10 tee