BYU’s Berlin Long advances to quarterfinals in 2023 Utah State Women’s Amateur
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- BYU golfer Berlin Long watches her drive during a match at the 2023 Utah State Women’s Amateur golf tournament at Jeremy Ranch Golf and Country Club in Park City on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023.
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- Lone Peak golfer Aadyn Long watches her drive during a match at the 2023 Utah State Women’s Amateur golf tournament at Jeremy Ranch Golf and Country Club in Park City on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023.
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- BYU golfer Berlin Long prepares to putt during a match at the 2023 Utah State Women’s Amateur golf tournament at Jeremy Ranch Golf and Country Club in Park City on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023.
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- Former BYU golfer Kerstin Ngakuru hits the ball out of the sand during a match at the 2023 Utah State Women’s Amateur golf tournament at Jeremy Ranch Golf and Country Club in Park City on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023.
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- BYU golfer Berlin Long hits a sand shot during a match at the 2023 Utah State Women’s Amateur golf tournament at Jeremy Ranch Golf and Country Club in Park City on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023.
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- UVU golfer Pati Uluave watches her drive during a match at the 2023 Utah State Women’s Amateur golf tournament at Jeremy Ranch Golf and Country Club in Park City on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023.
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- BYU golfer Sunbin Seo hits her tee shot during a match at the 2023 Utah State Women’s Amateur golf tournament at Jeremy Ranch Golf and Country Club in Park City on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023.
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- Timpview golfer Emma Lillywhite watches her drive during a match at the 2023 Utah State Women’s Amateur golf tournament at Jeremy Ranch Golf and Country Club in Park City on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023.
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- BYU golfer Lila Galea’i watches her drive during a match at the 2023 Utah State Women’s Amateur golf tournament at Jeremy Ranch Golf and Country Club in Park City on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023.
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- Talonscove general manager Kareen Larson hits the ball out of the sand during a match at the 2023 Utah State Women’s Amateur golf tournament at Jeremy Ranch Golf and Country Club in Park City on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023.
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- American Fork golfer Lily Shin watches her drive during a match at the 2023 Utah State Women’s Amateur golf tournament at Jeremy Ranch Golf and Country Club in Park City on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023.
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- BYU golfer Berlin Long watches a putt during a match at the 2023 Utah State Women’s Amateur golf tournament at Jeremy Ranch Golf and Country Club in Park City on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023.
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- BYU golfer Adeline Anderson hits a chip shot during a match at the 2023 Utah State Women’s Amateur golf tournament at Jeremy Ranch Golf and Country Club in Park City on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023.
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- BYU golfer Lila Galea’i hits a drive during a match at the 2023 Utah State Women’s Amateur golf tournament at Jeremy Ranch Golf and Country Club in Park City on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023.
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- BYU golfer Sunbin Seo watches her drive during a match at the 2023 Utah State Women’s Amateur golf tournament at Jeremy Ranch Golf and Country Club in Park City on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023.
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- UVU golfer Pati Uluave watches a putt during a match at the 2023 Utah State Women’s Amateur golf tournament at Jeremy Ranch Golf and Country Club in Park City on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023.
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- Spanish Fork golfer Katelin Bingham hugs former BYU golfer Kerstin Ngakuru after their match at the 2023 Utah State Women’s Amateur golf tournament at Jeremy Ranch Golf and Country Club in Park City on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023.
At the beginning of Wednesday’s first match-play round at the 2023 Utah State Women’s Amateur golf tournament at Jeremy Ranch Golf and Country Club in Park City, the field featured at least six current and former BYU golfers, two current UVU golfers, and multiple Utah Valley high school golfers.
When the final second-round concluded on Wednesday evening, only Cougar golfer Berlin Long had a spot in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
“It was surprising, honestly,” Long said. “You go in hoping there will be a few of us in the quarterfinals and even in the semifinals. For me to be the only one surprised me. Obviously I wish my teammates were still in but it’s still fun for me to go out and represent.”
Long started the day facing American Fork High golfer Lily Shin and although neither athlete would call it their best round, Long was able to make the shots she needed to build a lead and then close out the 4-and-2 win.
“I didn’t play amazing,” Long said. “In the last couple of days, I’ve been good with my wedges and off the tee, but my irons have been a little rough. In the first round my misses were a little bit bigger but I was able to get through.”
In her second match of the day, she squared off against UVU’s Pati Uluave, who had survived a playoff to make the field. The Wolverine sophomore from Lehi then rallied from an early deficit in the first round to upset BYU golfer Adeline Anderson (who had the second-best stroke-play score) by winning a pair of holes early in the back nine and not surrendering any holes the rest of the way to get the 1-up victory.
Long said Uluave was playing well, consistently making putts and staying within striking distance through the first nine holes as Long led by just two holes. Then the golfers got called to the clubhouse due to a lightning delay as thunderstorms rolled in.
“The delay can get you out of your groove, but I was able to come out afterwards and birdie No. 10,” Long said. “I then had a nice up-and-down to win No. 11 and go up by four. Those two holes were the turning point in the match. Before that it felt like more of a battle but after it felt like I was more in control.”
Long closed out the 4-and-3 win to advance to the next round, where she will go up against a familiar face in Sacramento State’s Tess Blair.
“It’ll be fun,” Long said. “I actually got to play with Tess in the stroke play on Tuesday. We’ve grown up together and played golf together as juniors but haven’t played together in a few years. I always love playing with Tess. She’s awesome, so I think it should be a good match.”
The winner of the match between Long and Blair on Thursday morning will play in the semifinals on Thursday afternoon against either Faith Vui of Samoa or Utah Tech’s Grace Williams.
Long said her mentality going into what could be another long day of golf is to simplify.
“I’ve been doing a few things to try and fix some of the misses I’ve had,” Long said. “It’s really easy for me to get a lot of swing thoughts going. If I can just find one or two feels for my irons and then just stay calm and really diligent in my routine, I think I’ll be able to execute. That’s kind of the goal.”
Long’s younger sister, Lone Peak golfer Aadyn Long, was on the same side of the bracket but fell behind Williams and couldn’t get a hole back down the stretch.
On the other side of the bracket, a pair of former champs took down their Utah Valley opposition to advance to the quarterfinals.
Defending champion Kelsey Chugg (who has won the tournament five times) eliminated both 2021 champ and BYU golfer Lila Galea’i in the first round and 2019 champ and former BYU golfer Kerstin Ngakuru in the second round by identical 3-and-2 scores.
The 2020 champion, Arizona State golfer Grace Summerhays, knocked out BYU golfer Sunbin Seo, 6-and-5, in the second round.
UVU’s Abbey Porter got past Ashley Lam in the first round but lost to Samira Salinas in the second round, while Spanish Fork High golfer Katelyn Bingham and BYU golfer Whitney Banz were eliminated in the first round.
Both Emma and Rachel Lillywhite won their first-round matches, but Rachel Lillywhite lost to Blair (3-and-2) and Emma Lillywhite lost to Vui (5-and-4) in the second round.
The quarterfinals of the 2023 Utah Women’s State Amateur are set to start at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday at Jeremy Ranch Golf and Country Club in Park City.
For complete details, go to http://UGA.org.
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