Chris in the Brigham City newspaper

Quality, quantity mark BC


Open golf tourney



Quality is the buzzword surrounding this year’s Brigham City Open golf tournament, according to Eagle Mountain professional Chris Marx.

And the proof of that is in the scores.

In the professional flight of the Open on Saturday, Zach Johnson, an assistant pro at Davis Golf Course won with a 65, just three shots ahead of the next seven players.

Similarly in the top amateur flight, Tremonton’s Ryan Pugsley won with a 67, but the next 10 players underneath him were within four strokes.

“There’s so many good players...it’s crazy,” said Marx.

Unfortunately, few of top finishers were locals, except in the third flight of the amateur bracket, where locals took the six top spots. Dylan Chugg, a 12-year-old from North Ogden who frequents Eagle Mountain because of its quality junior golf program, tied for first with area resident Tim Moffit with 77. Behind him were locals Dale Fuller (third) and Bruce Hyland (fourth) and Sean Hales (sixth).

For the most part, Marx said, “We got beat by out-of-towners. Sometimes we get them good, but this time the out-of-towners got us.” Marx added that the championship set-up of the course mitigated some of the local knowledge that might otherwise benefit regulars to Eagle Mountain.

One notable local, Eagle Mountain assistant pro Doug Brown, led his team of Brent and Dave Walker and Scott Killpack to a win in the pro-am on Friday in just his second event as a professional.

“He kept saying, ‘I’m in the golf zone,’” Marx related.

But after many long days helping set up the tournament, “His zone got tired out” said Marx, and Brown finished outside the money with a 73.

Aside from the quality of the play, another thing that stood out to Marx is the quality of the players. Most notably, he said, was 18-year-old Rob Tuscedra, who played well, but called a two-stroke penalty on himself after getting a clarification of the rules, which took him out of the money.

“In most sports you’re trying to get a referee to not call anything,” Marx said, “but it was this kid who called it on himself.”

Marx said the tournament was also somewhat about quantity as well as quality, as the Open had the biggest turnout it’s ever experienced. More than 300 people played in the two-day event and there was a waiting list for every flight.

“It kind of took me off guard...because people talk about the economy being bad, but...” Marx said.