Zac Jones watches a drive during the State Amateur at Soldier Hollow Golf Course in Midway on Saturday, July 16, 2022. Simon Kwon hits out of a bunker during the State Amateur at Soldier Hollow Golf Course in Midway on Saturday, July 16, 2022.After two pairs of University of Utah golfers dueled for the last couple of State Amateur titles, BYU’s Zac Jones was hoping teammate David Timmins would join him at Soldier Hollow Golf Course in Saturday’s final match of the 124th tournament.
Jones stayed on top of the State Am field from start to finish. A pair of 66s on the Gold and Silver layouts made him the stroke-play medalist, then only one of his first five matches went to No. 18. In the final match, Jones went 5 up after 12 holes and withstood Kwon’s comeback attempts in the afternoon.
Jones also is a product of a prominent Utah golf family, as of one three brothers who made State Am history by advancing together into the 64-golfer bracket for match play. Their father, Clark, also qualified for the 288-player field at Soldier Hollow. Jones’ tee shot settled in the greenside rough, and his difficult chip trickled into tap-in range. Kwon then three-putted, creating one of those classic match-play reversals.