MIDWAY -- When the Utah State Amateur begins this morning at Soldier Hollow Golf Course, it will again feature a field twice the size of a typical year for the top men's tournament in the state.
That's because there are two courses to use today and Thursday, as the field of 288 is whittled to a match play group of 32. Sure, the math shows it's even harder to get to Friday's first round -- more competition for the same number of annual spots -- but it also sparks a lot more possibilities.
Each golfer will have one round on the tougher gold course, then another 18 on the silver, over the next two days. The latter loop won't be part of match play, but it could be sterling when it comes to separating contenders from pretenders along the way, with six challenging par-3 holes.
