Justin Shluker traces up a putt in the course of the second spherical of Salt Lake Metropolis Novice Championship on the Bonneville Golf Membership in Salt Lake Metropolis, Utah on Sunday, June 5, 2022. Shluker gained the event with a rating of 10-under 134. Mengshin Lin, Deseret Information
Justin Shluker made just one mistake Sunday earlier than his last spherical of the Richard C. Kramer Salt Lake Metropolis Novice golf event at Bonneville Golf Course.
The 27-year-old accountant confirmed up on the course for his mid-afternoon tee time sporting pants when virtually each different contestant within the area wore shorts on a stupendous 78-degree day on Salt Lake Metropolis’s east bench.
His self-admitted attire gaffe however, Shluker was principally good in carding a second straight spherical of 5-under-par 67 and cruised to the win in solely his second look on the revered and historic Metropolis Am.
His 10-under whole of 134 was three photographs higher than Ryan Brimley, who closed with a 66 on Sunday to make issues mildly attention-grabbing down the stretch.
“I had no thought the place issues have been. I figured if I might get to double digits, I had a very good shot. If anyone got here in and beat me and I did that, then all props to them.” — SLC Novice champion Justin Shluker.
“It's a actually large win,” stated Shluker, a former Park Metropolis Excessive star who performed collegiately for Sonoma State in California and now resides in Murray. He does accounting and finance work for a California-based bio-tech firm to make a residing.
Murray’s Brimley, a former school basketball standout, stated it was his third or fourth runner-up end at this event.
Devin Tovey and College of Utah golfer Braxton Watts tied for third at 6-under 138, whereas Evan Lawrence and Cameron Howe tied for fifth.
BYU’s Tyson Shelley positioned sixth.
Pete Bennett gained the Alta Flight with a 138 and Troy Porter gained the Brighton Flight with a 155.
Taking part in within the Brighton Flight, Nicholas Katsanevas made a hole-in-one on No. 9, the difficult downhill par-3 with a two-tiered inexperienced, however today belonged to Shluker, who was tied with Highland Excessive rising senior Nason Jones at 5-under when the day started.
Jones rapidly fell off the tempo with a troublesome entrance 9, however Shluker says he by no means actually knew the place he stood in relation to the lead.
There have been no leaderboards on the course, and few gamers posted their scores electronically so everybody was just about at nighttime.
“I had no thought the place issues have been,” Shluker stated. “I figured if I might get to double digits, I had a very good shot.
If anyone got here in and beat me and I did that, then all props to them.”
Brimley, who stated he “left a number of on the market” on Saturday that ultimately saved him from claiming the trophy, figured he wanted not less than a 65 to get himself right into a playoff.
Didn’t occur, and wouldn’t have mattered.
Shluker was that good; Defending champion Cooper Jones, the youngest winner in SLC Am historical past, shot 12-under final 12 months to win the title however couldn’t play this 12 months as a result of he's enjoying in a U.S. Open qualifier occasion on Monday.
Shluker stated his plan Sunday was to maintain the ball within the fairway, keep away from downhill putts and benefit from the reachable-in-two par-5s.
Mission achieved.
“The course is simply superior,” he stated. “Like, they did such an amazing job setting it up. I simply caught to my recreation plan and made a few putts.
“Truthfully, that's what made a distinction.”
Shluker rolled in a 50-footer on No. 14 for a birdie to get to 9-under, then made one other birdie on the par-5 sixteenth to seal the deal.
“I knew I nonetheless had holes to play (after the birdie bomb),” he stated. “It's not over till it's over. I needed to have good photographs coming in, and once more, give myself as many alternatives as I might.
“That was principally it.”
Shluker stated the win was in all probability his largest in Utah — he gained some school tournaments — and units him up for an honest summer season.
“Through the years of maturing and stuff like that, I've been in a position to determine a technique to rating in event golf and stuff like that,” he stated.
“Yeah, I don’t observe a lot. I simply play so much and are available out and play in addition to I can.”
Even in lengthy pants.
Richard C. Kramer Salt Lake Metropolis Novice
At Bonneville Golf Course, Salt Lake Metropolis
Championship Flight
134 — Justin Shluker (67-67)
137 — Ryan Brimley (71-66)
138 — Devin Tovey (71-67), Braxton Watts (70-68)
140 — Evan Lawrence (72-68), Cameron Howe (70-70)
141 — Tyson Shelley (70-71)
142 — Steven Croft (71-71), David Timmins (71-71), Spencer Schindler (70-72), Oscar Mayfield (69-73)
144 — Masen Ward (74-70), Dan Horner (73-71), Boston Watts (72-72)
145 — Zack Neff (76-69), Kurt Owen (74-71), Stephen Lindsey (74-71)
Alta Flight
Low Gross
138 — Pete Bennett (67-71)
147 — Austin Inexperienced (76-71)
149 — Brady Watkins (75-74)
Low Internet
136 — Pete Bennett (66-70)
144 — Troy Creer (71-73)
145 — Austin Inexperienced (75-70)
Brighton Flight
Low Gross
155 — Troy Porter (76-79)
159 — Geremy Hand (80-79), Rajeev Balasubramonian (79-80)
Low Internet
147 — Geremy Hand (74-73), Troy Porter (72-75), Rajeev Balasubramonian (73-74)
148 — Brett Wilson (71-77)