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Davis alum Cole Ponich (BYU) leaves the bunker during his semifinal round with Davis Johnson (Utah) at the Utah State Amateur Championship on Friday, July 12, 2024, at Ogden Golf and Country Club in South Ogden.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

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Weber State alum Brendan Thomas lines up his putt on hole No. 18 during the quarterfinal round at the Utah State Amateur Championship on Friday, July 12, 2024, at Ogden Golf and Country Club in South Ogden.

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Davis alum Cole Ponich (BYU) watches his ball during the semifinal round with Davis Johnson (Utah) at the Utah State Amateur Championship on Friday, July 12, 2024, at Ogden Golf and Country Club in South Ogden.

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Weber State alum Brendan Thomas (left) shakes hands with Jackson Rhees (right) after winning the quarterfinal round on hole No. 18 during the Utah State Amateur Championship on Friday, July 12, 2024, at Ogden Golf and Country Club in South Ogden.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

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SOUTH OGDEN — The stage is set. BYU teammates Cole Ponich and Cooper Jones will square off for the crown at the men’s 126th Utah State Amateur Championship on Saturday at Ogden Golf and Country Club.

Friday’s finish pits two Cougars against each other for the first time since 1980’s championship match between California natives Erich Gott and Jerry Rose at Riverside Country Club in Provo.

This weekend, Ponich (Kaysville) and Jones (Highland) will play the first championship between two Utah native BYU players.

The 36-hole title round received a time bump, now set for 7 a.m. Saturday. Ponich, who graduated from Davis High in 2019, said the matchup couldn’t be much tighter.

“I think we’re pretty similar,” Ponich said of Jones. “We hit it the same distance, we kind of get stuff done with our short game and I think it’ll be a cool battle to see two guys that don’t necessarily hit it the longest out there, but just good wedgeplay, good putting — It’ll be a fun match.”

For a moment, it seemed like Ponich and Brendan Thomas (Weber State, native of Farmington) were destined to give the grand finale a local flavor after both players staged impressive victories during Friday morning’s quarterfinal round.

Ponich squandered, then rebuilt, a three-hole lead against fellow Cougar and No. 26 seed Elijah Turner in his quarterfinal victory. The Davis letterman let his lead slip away leaving the front 9 and picked up steam again on No. 11 for a runaway, three-hole victory with a hole left on the scorecard.

“I’ve had a bad mindset with match play in the past I think and I’ve done a lot better now that I’ve matured a little bit,” Ponich said. “I realized the way I’ve thought through match play in the past hasn’t worked and the way I’ve gone about it now has worked a lot more for me.”

In the semifinal round, Ponich caught fire with three consecutive birdies through hole No. 9 and maintained at least a three-hole lead on Arizona native Davis Johnson (University of Utah) en route to a 4-and-3 victory.

Ponich’s two 5-foot puts on holes No. 7 and No. 8 made the difference down the stretch, the Davis alum said.

“Both those putts gave my putter a lot of confidence going forward,” Ponich said. “On nine, (Johnson) hit one in there pretty good within 10 or 12 feet. … To follow that up and get it inside of him, that’s really what got the momentum going in the back nine.”

After Saturday’s title match with Jones, Ponich will prepare for the U.S. Amateur qualifier in Salt Lake City and return to Provo with one season of eligibility remaining.

Like Ponich, Thomas stayed composed through the back half of his quarterfinal bout with No. 9 Jackson Rhees. The former Wildcat, trailing by two holes on the front nine, managed a fourth consecutive victory with key birdies on holes No. 16 and No. 18 to finish 1-up on Rhees.

While that win extended his personal-best run at the state am, Thomas didn’t find such a groove in his semifinal round.

Something about rolling out of bed this morning didn’t sit right with Thomas: he was dehydrated.

“Waking up this morning, I felt pretty off,” Thomas said. “I was worried I wouldn’t be able to make the full 18 in the first round, I didn’t drink a lot of like electrolytes (Thursday). … I feel pretty good about how I competed and my stamina, I feel like I held up great.”

Thomas had strung together four gritty victories — three coming down two holes or fewer — to carve out his place in Friday’s semifinal picture with Jones, but fell just short of the championship in a 3-and-2 loss.

Thomas said the toughest part of his match was simply how well Jones worked the green throughout the day.

“All his putts were scaring the hole,” Thomas said. “He made a lot of good putts and I didn’t make a lot of putts that I needed to make, so that’s what got me.”

The next date on Thomas’ calendar is the Utah Open qualifier at Riverside Country Club in Provo.

Ponich and Jones tee off the Utah State Amateur championship round at 7 a.m. Saturday at Ogden Golf and Country Club.

Connect with prep sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net and X @ctbecker.