HISTORY | shootout

The Utah-Arizona Shootout: A Unique Competition

The Utah-Arizona Shootout is a unique, one of its kind, competition and its creation was not taken from a boilerplate formula of any existing competition, but was the result of long, careful planning by UGA President Keith Hansen and UGA Executive Director Joe Watts. They were both new to their respective UGA positions and were seeking ways to enhance the UGA programs.

At about that same time Ryan Job, one of Utah’s top amateurs, indicated that his employer, Country Crisp, would probably be willing to sponsor a new UGA event. The UGA had never sought sponsorship of any of its events, but the advance offer triggered the exploratory thinking about creating a new event.

Hansen and Watts began working on the idea of an inter-state competition and between the two of them agreed on a rough outline of what the format could be.

Hansen wanted the event to complement other UGA programs and suggested that the teams should consist of eight at-large players, two seniors, and two women. The at-large players would consist of UGA major tournament champions including the Utah State Am champion, the Mid-Am champion, the Tournament of Champions winners in both the club and tournament divisions, and the remainder by position from the UGA Player Performance ranking.

In an effort to enhance the importance of UGA member clubs and to be more inclusive of the broader UGA membership a spot on the team was specifically reserved for the champion of the Tournament of Champions, Club Champions Division.

Hansen also wanted to include champions of our senior and women’s programs and so spots were designated for the champions of the UGA Senior Amateur and the UGA Senior Match Play, and also the Women’s Utah State Amateur champion, and the UGA Women’s Match Play champion.

Arizona Becomes Partner-Opponent

The UGA board was very supportive of the concept and the only question remaining was which state to approach as its partner. The discussion boiled down quickly to either Arizona or Idaho and it was determined that the Arizona Golf Association was the better choice in that it was a large successful association and was a mecca for winter golf and had several Top 100 golf courses that our players would enjoy playing. It was felt that the competition with Arizona would enhance the UGA and its membership. There was some concern about our ability to compete with Arizona, but we felt a competition with Arizona would elevate our players and our association.

With a fully developed concept in hand Watts and Hansen began talks with Arizona’s Executive Director Ed Gowan. He was an enthusiastic supporter of the idea, but the inclusion of women presented a bit of a problem because their organizations were separate entities and he couldn’t speak for them.

Hansen was adamant that we needed to include women and Arizona was eventually able to work things out with the women’s association.

The only other minor hitch centered on the scoring format for the matches. The UGA preferred the Nassau scoring format, which is one point for the front nine, one point for the back nine, and one point for the 18. Utah’s 8-Man Team Leagues all used that format and it was very successful. Arizona was not familiar with that scoring system and preferred the Ryder Cup’s one-point per match, but graciously accepted the Nassau system.

The financial arrangement required the host team to provide the golf course, team pictures and plaques and a tournament banquet. The visiting team was to provide its own travel and lodging expenses. Country Crisp provided the crystal traveling trophy and some team expenses for the first few years. The trophy has rested in Utah for 14 years and in Arizona for ten years.

First Shootout Hosted by Utah in 1991

After more than a year of planning the Utah-Arizona Shootout took root in 1991 at Hidden Valley Country Club with Utah surprising Arizona, 41 ½-30 ½. The win was surprising in that going into that first match there was speculation as to whether Utah, half the size of Arizona, could compete favorably with Arizona.

After the upset there was speculation that Utah had won because of the home course advantage and perhaps Arizona had not taken the match as seriously as the Utah team. Arizona’s loss immediately upped the interest in the competition and Arizona became anxious for a rematch, and thus the rivalry was born and has lasted a quarter of a century with Utah currently leading with a 13-10-1 record.

Site Selections Give Shootout Big Boost

The competition got a big boost from its initial site selections. Utah hosted the event at its prestigious country club courses and Arizona lined up some of its most prestigious upscale courses. When Arizona secured Troon Country Club as its initial host site Troon had just received national acclaim as one of the top new courses in America and the site selection made the best players from both Utah and Arizona anxious to make their respective teams. The competition at Troon was keen and Utah lost by a slim three points. The next Arizona site was Desert Forest, the top rated course in Arizona and ranked in the nation’s Top 100 Courses. With both states securing the best sites possible it added significant prestige to the tournament.

The home team won the first nine matches and that seemed to prove that there is a built in home course advantage because of elevation and course style differences. The first time ‘service was broken’ came when Utah upset Arizona at Pinnacle Peak in the tenth year of the competition. While the win was decisive it didn’t determine the home team advantage question because Pinnacle Peak was an old style golf course much more like many of the country club courses in Utah than an Arizona desert course. Arizona’s choice of Pinnacle Peak was the perfect course for Utah golfers.

Arizona’s road breakthrough didn’t come until 2003 when Utah hosted the event at Glenwild, a site selection that played right into the hands of the Arizonans. Glenwild was the most exclusive club in Utah and none of the Utah players had played the course. It was designed much like the high end resort courses of Arizona.

Utah was able to secure the coveted site only because a top notch Arizona player, Michael Mahoney, was also an influential member at Glenwild. Mahoney, a member of both the Utah and Arizona Golf Associations, played on the Arizona team and although he scored only one point the Arizonans won their first match on the road, 39-33.

The very next year Arizona hosted the event at The Gallery and Mahoney earned a spot on the Utah team by winning the UGA Senior Amateur title. He won all three points of his individual match, but Arizona won and that squared the series at 7-7 with each team with one road win. Mahoney remains the only player in the history of the tournament to play for both teams.

In 2005, at Utah’s Soldier Hollow, Arizona won its fourth straight match and second straight road win and took the series lead for the first time, 8-7.

In 2006, Arizona again chose a site to Utah’s advantage, Laughton Ranch, which is located near Las Vegas and was much more convenient for the Utah team. Travel complications probably reduced the quality of the Arizona team that year and Utah won its second ‘road’ win and tied the series at 8-8.

During the next few years the visiting team blew away the home course advantage question when the visitors won six in a row from 2005 through 2010. Going into the 25th competition the home team has a 16-8-1 won-loss record, but in the last 15 years the home team stands only 7-8-1. Each team has lost four times at home.