Tough love: Taylorsville native Ashley Lam claims 120th Utah Women’s State Amateur
6-time champion Chugg short of Westminster standout by one hole
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- The Utah Golf Association presents Ashley Lam with the 120th Utah Women’s State Amatuer Trophy on Thursday, July 23, 2026, at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington.
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- Ashley Lam escapes the bunker at the 120th Utah Women’s State Amateur on Thursday, July 23, 2026, at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington.
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- Kelsey Chugg, a six-time champion, approaches the green at the 120th Utah Women’s State Amateur on Thursday, July 23, 2026, at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington.
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- Ashley Lam, left, and her brother, Sean Lam, look things over during the 120th Utah Women’s State Amateur on Thursday, July 23, 2026, at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington.
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- Kelsey Chugg, a six-time champion, and her caddy assess a lie during the 120th Utah Women’s State Amateur on Thursday, July 23, 2026, at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington.
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- Kelsey Chugg, a six-time champion, pictured during the 120th Utah Women’s State Amateur on Thursday, July 23, 2026, at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington.
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- Sean Lam, left, hugs her sister, Ashley Lam, following the 120th Utah Women’s State Amateur on Thursday, July 23, 2026, at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington.
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- The Utah Golf Association presents Ashley Lam with the 120th Utah Women’s State Amatuer Trophy on Thursday, July 23, 2026, at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington.
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- Ashley Lam, back, hugs a loved one following the 120th Utah Women’s State Amateur on Thursday, July 23, 2026, at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington.
FARMINGTON — She never trailed, but Taylorsville native Ashley Lam experienced several emotions down the stretch of the 120th Utah Women’s State Amateur championship golf match on Thursday at Oakridge Country Club.
Only after a Par 4 on the 18th hole, where Lam wedged onto the green from 104 yards out for a birdie putt, did she defeat six-time champion Kelsey Chugg once and for all. A downpour of emotion hit Lam, an incoming junior at Westminster University in Salt Lake City, shortly after receiving the tournament’s iconic, radiant trophy.
Tied through the first 18 of a 36-hole, match-play finale, Lam led nine different times on Thursday and rose to a three-hole lead with a birdie on her second pass through the 13th hole.
Lam saw her lead evaporate with a double-bogey on the 17th green, largely considered one of the toughest in Utah. Approaching the 18th tee, now tied with Chugg, Lam leaned on her 22-year-old brother, Sean, for some tough love before the final hole.
“My brother told me just to lock in — just stop being a baby,” Lam said.
Posted near a tree off the 18th tee, Chugg’s second shot just barely jumped into a bunker, leading to a double-bogey. Lam had a sense of the day’s score down the course’s final leg, but said any lead wasn’t safe until she put the round to rest.
“I wasn’t trying to think about it too much,” Lam said. “I don’t need more to think about with all this golf and making sure I’m hitting my shots.”
Chugg, who’s hoisted the same trophy six times since 2012, joined the aspiring pro Lam on the 18th green for the traditional champion’s presentation. Asked of her resume and the task of defeating the WSU grad on Thursday, Lam said she could only treat the round as any other.
On one particular hole, near the clubhouse, Lam recalled singing with a Bruno Mars song echoing from the country club’s pool and relaxing on her approach. Those little breaks were gold, Lam said, as she battled several unfavorable scenarios.
“She’s a great player,” Lam said of Chugg. “I’ve just got to play my golf, too, play well and whatever happens, happens. … I got really screwed a lot in the fairways and roughs with weird lies and stuff. It’ll happen to the best of us; we’ll chunk it, it’ll happen. You’ve just gotta play where it is for the next shot.”
After receiving the championship trophy, Lam struggled to hold back tears as she thanked the large crowd who had gathered to witness her first State Am victory.
Lam enters her third season at Westminster with five victories on the college circuit, a junior amateur and now, with a win on Thursday, receives an exemption to the 2026 U.S. Women’s Golf Amateur Championship in Tennessee.
“There’s a lot more support around (the State Am), you can feel it,” Lam said.
With her first amateur victory, Lam plans to build on her success with a successful junior campaign at Westminster while navigating her career prospects. An exemption to her first U.S. Amateur certainly doesn’t hurt.
The U.S. Women’s Amateur is scheduled for Aug. 4-9 at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tennessee. The 2027 Utah Women’s State Amateur is scheduled for Bonneville Golf Course in Salt Lake City next July (dates TBD).
Connect with Standard-Examiner sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net, X @ctbecker and Instagram @standardexaminersports.
