The 120th Utah Women’s State Amateur golf tournament is loaded with current and former BYU golfers who are highly capable of claiming the individual championship on Thursday.
Also in the field at Oakridge Country Club are former champions Grace Summerhays and Arden Louchheim (the 2025 winner), six-time champion Kelsey Chugg and a blast from the past, 1994 and 1995 champion Steph Belnap.
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Weber State golfer Braylyn Bayer, a rising junior from Bonners Ferry, Idaho, could not care less about that.
After all, Bayer had to repay her dad for making the 12-hour drive from a small town near the Canadian border to caddy for her on Monday.
Now 62-year-old Curt Bayer gets to stay in the area for another day, maybe longer.
That’s because Braylyn Bayer won medalist honors in the stroke-play qualifying portion of the tournament on Monday, firing a 1-under-par 71 to edge BYU golfer Nya Palmer and recently graduated BYU golfer Sunbin Seo by a shot.
Utah Tech golfer Samantha Phelan, BYU golfer Whitney Banz (the 2025 medalist at Wasatch Mountain) and New Mexico State golfer Rylee Salome were two shots back at 73.
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“It is really cool (to be the medalist),” Bayer said. “I didn’t know until my dad told me on the last green, so that was kind of fun to not know and be out there with him, and just (play) a good round.”
Bayer said she “made a couple of long putts” to become the surprise medalist, including a 35-footer on No. 1 at Oakridge — No. 10 for her as she played the back nine first. She also made an eagle from 3 feet away on No. 16.
“I am glad he doesn’t have to drive home tonight and go to work tomorrow. He can keep caddying for me, so that’s nice,” she said of her 62-year-old father.
Bayer wasn’t listed among the favorites by the Deseret News in an article previewing the tournament on Sunday, but she is still an accomplished college golfer. She won medalist honors at the Sun Mountain Intercollegiate in Missoula, Montana last fall while competing as an individual, earning herself a spot in the full-time lineup.
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“I have a really great team at Weber, and my coach is amazing, so I couldn’t say enough good things about Weber,” she said.
Interning at an Ogden bank this summer, Bayer said her boss was nice enough to give her the week off — as long as she keeps winning.
“I think I can make a run, but there are a lot of really good players playing, so it’ll be fun to see how it goes,” she said.
Tuesday, match play begins with Round of 32 and Round of 16 matches. Wednesday will feature the quarterfinals and semifinals, and the 36-hole championship match is set for Thursday.
For her efforts, Bayer got a brutal draw — BYU golfer Ava Schroeder, a sophomore from Twin Falls, Idaho, who survived a playoff for one of the last three match-play berths.
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After seven golfers shot 7-over 79s, a playoff was held on the No. 18 hole at Oakridge for the final three spots in match play.
Amanda Hanneman made a 12-footer for birdie on the first playoff hole to advance, and will face BYU’s Palmer, a freshman from Las Vegas, in a Round of 32 match Tuesday morning.
The other six golfers made pars on the first playoff hole, leaving six women in the fight for the last two berths. BYU’s Schroeder made a 15-footer for birdie and BYU’s Aadyn Long made a 30-footer for birdie to advance, eliminating Lindsay Cook, Addison Branham, Madalyn Hadley and Kaylee Westfall. Hadley rolled in a 50-footer for birdie on the 18th hole to make it into the playoff.
Orem’s Westfall, who has signed with UVU, is probably the most accomplished golfer to not make it into match play. She won the Utah State Junior Amateur last month at Park Meadows.
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The Bayer-Schroeder match is just one of several intriguing first-round matches. In perhaps the most noteworthy, BYU teammates Whitney Banz and Berlin Long square off at 8:24 a.m.
Berlin’s sister, Aadyn, meets former Cougar Seo at 8:42 a.m.
Monday’s stroke-play qualifying results
71 — Braylyn Brayer
72 — Nya Palmer, Sunbin Seo
73 — Samantha Phelan, Whitney Banz, Rylee Salome
74 — Kelsey Chugg, Brylnlee Welch, Brooklyn Maes
75 — Gabrielle Roznicki, Taylor Weingarten, Jane Olson, Brynnley Bischoff, Adley Nelson, Sydney Richards
76 — Arden Louchheim, Grace Summerhays, Rachel Lillywhite, Hunter Gledhill, Susan Tiffner, Rosie Oettli
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77 — Ashley Lam, Ellie Jo Olsen, Remi Rawlings
78 — Steph Belnap, Faith Vui, Berlin Long, Natalie McLane, Taylyn Wilson
79 — Aadyn Long, Amanda Henneman, Ava Schroeder
Eliminated in Playoff
79 — Lindsay Cook, Addison Branham, Kaylee Westfall, Madalyn Hadley
Did not make the cut
80 — Jailee Snow, Avery Kraatz, Salina Lui
81 — Janet Koch, Kindra Hirasuna, Isabel Wade, Kira Connell
82 — Morgan Thomas, Sierra CC Banz, Mikaila Lieu, Eleanor Henderson
83 — Kyra Sponenburgh, Jessica Applegarth
84 — Claire Olafsson, Isabella Pizz, Lily Shin, Annette Gaiotti, Angie Bloxham
Tuesday’s Round of 32 Matches
Top Bracket
No. 1 Braylon Bayer vs. No. 32 Ava Schroeder, 7:30 a.m.
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No. 16 Grace Summerhays vs. No. 17 Hunter Gledhill, 7:39 a.m.
No. 8 Brooklynn Maes vs. No. 25 Steph Belnap, 7:48 a.m.
No. 9 Kelsey Chugg vs. No. 24 Ellie Jo Olsen, 7:57 a.m.
No. 4 Rylee Salome vs. No. 29 Faith Vui, 8:06 a.m.
No. 13 Adley Nelson vs. No. 20 Arden Louchheim, 8:15 a.m.
No. 5 Whitney Banz vs. No. 28 Berlin Long, 8:24 a.m.
No. 12 Gabrielle Roznicki vs. No. 21 Susan Tiffner, 8:33 a.m.
Bottom Bracket
No. 2 Sunbin Seo vs. No. 31 Aadyn Long, 8:42 a.m.
No. 15 Taylor Weingarten vs. No. 18 Rosie Oettli, 8:51 a.m.
No. 7 Brynlee Welch vs. No. 26 Natalie McLane, 9 a.m.
No. 10 Jane Olson vs. No. 23 Ashley Lam, 9:09 a.m.
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No. 3 Nya Palmer vs. No. 30 Amanda Henneman, 9:18 a.m.
No. 14 Brynnley Bischoff vs. No. 19 Rachel Lillywhite, 9:27 a.m.
No. 6 Samantha Phelan vs. No. 27 Taylyn Wilson, 9:36 a.m.
No. 11 Sydney Richards vs. No. 22 Remi Rawlings, 9:45 a.m.
BYU golfer Aadyn Long prepares to putt during the 120th Utah Women’s State Amateur Championship at Oakridge Golf Club in Farmington, Utah on July 20, 2026. | Fairways Media/Randy Dodson
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