Utah Championship golf: Weber High alum Howe finishes 1st round in 23rd
BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner
Ogden native Connor Howe watches a shot during the first round of the Utah Championship on Thursday at Ogden Golf & Country Club in South Ogden. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)MORE PHOTOS from Day 1 of the Utah Championship
A bogey on the eighth hole and a string of pars had Weber High alum Connor Howe in a nice spot, but fluctuating in and out of contention Thursday as the Korn Ferry Tour’s Utah Championship got underway at Ogden Golf & Country Club.
But Howe surged late with birdies on Holes 13-15 to make a brief stop in the top 10, and another birdie on 17 gave Howe a 5-under 65 on the familiar course.
That was good enough to put Howe tied for 12th as the competition turned from day into evening, but later groups performed well enough to push Howe to a tie for 23rd place when the round concluded.
Alpine’s Carson Lundell eagled Hole 3 (on his back nine in the staggered start) to climb into the top 20 and finished 5-under to share top position (23rd) among Utahns with Howe.
Missouri native Ross Steelman, a teammate of Howe’s at Georgia Tech, carded 10 birdies for the Day 1 lead of 9-under 61. Steelman is the No. 4 player on the Korn Ferry Tour and has five top-10 finishes so far this year.
Arizona native Mason Andersen was surging in later groups, putting away a whopping eight birdies on the front nine and was 7-under through 12 to mount a challenge to Steelman’s claim for the day’s best finish, but he remained at 7-under through 18.
Jay Card III of New York, however, had a bogey-free round and, after six birdies, added an eagle on Hole 15 to pull even with Steelman in first place at 9-under.
Ogden native and University of Utah alum Mitchell Schow bogeyed two of his first three holes in the final group of the day, but rallied with three birdies on his back nine to finish with a 3-under 67, good for 59th place.
Veteran Utah golfer Daniel Summerhays bogeyed twice on the front nine but saved his round form slipping too far with birdies on 14, 15 and 17 to finish with a 2-under 68. He sat tied for 65th for some time but as the final groups finished, he slipped below the cut line to 79th. The event’s 156 players aim for 65: the top 65 players, plus ties, will make the cut and reach the third round Saturday.
His nephew, Preston Summerhays, shot a bogey-free 4-under and tied for 39th.
Julian Suri, the New York native who won the 2025 event on the same course, was even par through 10 holes but got to 2-under in a tie for 79th.
Schow moves to a morning tee time Friday; he and Jones tee off at 9:15 a.m. Howe and Lundell are in the final 2:30 p.m. groups, while Daniel Summerhays (1:20 p.m.) and Preston Summerhays (2:20 p.m.) are also afternoon starters.
TV coverage of the Utah Championship airs daily from 4-7 p.m. on the Golf Channel.
