Louchheim, set to graduate from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln later this summer, won the 119th amateur at Wasatch Mountain in Midway last summer after hanging a seven-hole victory on runner-up Kate Walker just 30 holes into the pair’s 36-hole championship match.

A native of Park City, Loucheim, redshirting the 2025-26 season at Nebraska, is trading the play-by-play mic for a 6-iron next week in hopes of defending her title. Two-time champion Bowen Mauss recently defended his title over the weekend at the 128th Men’s State Amateur at Soldier Hollow in Midway.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to defend,” Louchheim said. “I texted (Mauss) and I was like, ‘Congrats, hopefully you’re setting a trend,’ so I would love to come out there and defend, but I’m also aware of the amount time it takes to be really good, and I know that with my scheduled broadcasting right now, I’m not putting in as many hours, so there’s that understanding that there’s parts of my game that aren’t as sharp, but I’m still going to put a good round together and in match play, anything can happen, so I’d like to make a run at it.”

Louchheim’s ambitions are geared toward broadcasting these days. Her father, David Locke, is the voice of the Utah Jazz and founder of the Locked On Podcast Network, which now covers four pro leagues and 30-plus U.S. universities; Her mother, Akemi Louchheim, previously worked in Seattle for a local television station and as a sideline reporter covering the Seattle Seahawks.

Hoping to follow a similar path, the younger Louchheim, already in a unique club of past State Am champions competing in this year’s event (Weber State alum Kelsey Chugg, Farmington High golf coach Stephanie Belnap and Grace Summerhays), is chalking next week up to enjoying the opportunity.

“Broadcasting’s what I want to do with my future and that’s my priority right now, so this is a weird switch from a year ago when I won this (tournament) and golf was all I was doing,” Louchheim said. “It’s definitely been a slight switch, but now it’s just really cool to come out and play golf and have some fun.”

Like Louchheim, former Farmington High standout Sydney Richards is looking to make the most her homecoming, too.

Earlier in the spring, Richards officially transferred to Utah Valley University after making a name for herself at Division III Southern Virginia. A three-time state qualifier at Farmington, Richards went on to tally four different individual wins and became the first SVU player in program history recognized as the USA South Women’s Golfer of the Year following her junior season.

Richards plans to continue studying sport management at UVU while rounding out her remaining season of eligibility.

“It was crazy kind of how good I got out there,” Richards said. “It was kind of shocking. There’s two other girls that were really good at our conference (tournament) and even when I play with them, they always beat me. I had a few tournaments that really helped me get the points I needed.”

Louchheim and Richards lead a pack of current and former local stars, including Weber High alums Brynn Bischoff (Weber State), Remi Rawlings (Westminster), Northridge alum Isabel Wade (Westminster) and 2026 Bonneville graduate and UVU commit Whitni Johnson. The field includes multiple high school competitors via Youth on Course Utah, including 14-year-old Brooklyn Westfall of Orem.

One 18-hole qualifying round (stroke play) is scheduled for next Monday at Oakridge Country Club. Match play is scheduled for July 21-23 with a 36-hole championship round slated for July 23. For more tournament info and the full tournament roster, visit uga.org.

Connect with Standard-Examiner sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net, X @ctbecker and Instagram@standardexaminersports.