Tuesday featured a two-hole media round featuring North Ogden native Connor Howe and Utahn-turned-Arizonan Preston Summerhays, two longtime family friends and now adversaries on the course as the PGA’s Korn Ferry Tour makes its annual stop in the Beehive State.

Both Howe and Summerhays were part of the same tournament a year ago when the Utah Championship wrapped up a seven-year run at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington. Ogden becomes the championship’s fifth stop since its inception in 1990.

The Korn Ferry Tour, considered many pros’ on-ramp to a PGA Tour card, makes its latest stop just 20 minutes south of Howe’s high school alma mater, Weber High.

“It’s pretty special,” Howe said.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

“Being at Oakridge was still really cool, but it’s a little different being at the course I grew up playing. It’s a little surreal,” Howe continued. “Coming back and playing the course, and seeing a lot of faces that I grew up seeing a ton, the guys in the shop out here that help run this tournament, it’s cool getting to come back and play this course. It feels more like home.”

Howe, who turned pro in 2023 after graduating from Georgia Tech, reached the 156-man field along with BYU alum Peter Kuest and BYU commit Kihei Akina. Summerhays turned pro earlier this year following his senior season at Arizona State.

Despite swinging the club in different states, Howe and Summerhays maintained a tight relationship through their golf-entrenched families. Summerhays’ father, Boyd, is the grandson of prominent Utah coach Pres Summerhays; Boyd Summerhays has instructed Howe since 2012.

On Tuesday, Howe described the comforts of not only playing close to home, but playing with a familiar face and colleague in Summerhays.

“I’m always just trying to watch how he does things or ask him questions about how he hits different shots, or just how his process is on (and) off the golf course,” Howe said. “I’m just trying to learn little things here and there.”

Joining the Korn Ferry Tour fresh out of Tempe, Summerhays joins a whole slew of pros eyeing the top-75 mark needed for postseason play in October. Summerhays previously participated in the 2020 and 2021 U.S. Open Championships.

“Being done with school and finally being professional, it’s kind of what I’ve wanted to do my entire life,” Summerhays said. “Getting out here Monday, playing some holes, getting my work done (and) just making sure my game’s ready for Thursday. Teeing it up, it’s been really fun.”

With similar aspirations, Howe plans on growing his profile with his second Utah Championship appearance this weekend. Howe picked up a top-three finish at the Colonial Classic on the GPro Tour this summer, and the Weber High alum was part of two ACC titles at Georgia Tech.

More familiar with OGCC than most, Howe certainly enters Thursday’s opening round with a distinctive home-course advantage. But that same sense of his surroundings doesn’t always show up on the scorecard, and Howe’s already picked up on a few reasons why.

“They’ve grown the rough a lot,” Howe said. “I’ve never seen it this thick, so that’s going to be a pretty good defense for the course, and I know they’re trying to speed up the greens and throw them out a little bit. With the way the rough is, any round on this course could show some teeth. The scores won’t, maybe, be quite as low as we’re thinking.”

More locals join the Utah Championship

Hayden Banz, Weber State: Banz, a Salt Lake City native, steps up to the Korn Ferry Tour for the first time Thursday following a strong performance at the Utah Championship qualifier Monday at Glen Eagle Golf Course in Syracuse. The former All-Big Sky selection shot 64 and tied for third overall, according to Kurt Kragthorpe of Fairways media.

Mitchell Schow, Utah: Schow, an Ogden native, carried his career from Park City High School to Utah, where he finished in the top 50 of every tournament as a senior with the Utes. Schow won the 2024 Reno Open, earning an exemption to play in the 2024 Barracuda Championship. He’d tie for 17th overall in his PGA Tour debut and is looking to return to the tour.

Cole Ponich, BYU: Ponich, a Farmington native and Davis High alum, became the fifth Northern Utahn to join the Utah Championship field over the weekend, with the tournament adding his name to the exemption list in place of Kuest, who qualified for the tournament outright, according to Jay Drew of Deseret News.

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