​Weber State golfer Braylyn Bayer tees off during the 120th Utah Women’s State Amateur Championship at Oakridge Golf Club in Farmington, Utah on July 20, 2026.
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Fairways Media/Randy Dodson
The 120th Utah Women’s State Amateur golf tournament is loaded with current and former BYU golfers who are highly capable of claiming the individual championship on Thursday.Also in the field at Oakridge Country Club are former champions Grace Summerhays and Arden Louchheim (the 2025 winner), six-time champion Kelsey Chugg and a blast from the past, 1994 and 1995 champion Steph Belnap.Weber State golfer Braylyn Bayer, a rising junior from Bonners Ferry, Idaho, could not care less about that.After all, Bayer had to repay her dad for making the 12-hour drive from a small town near the Canadian border to caddy for her on Monday.Now 62-year-old Curt Bayer gets to stay in the area for another day, maybe longer.That’s because Braylyn Bayer won medalist honors in the stroke-play qualifying portion of the tournament on Monday, firing a 1-under-par 71 to edge BYU golfer Nya Palmer and recently graduated BYU golfer Sunbin Seo by a shot. Utah Tech golfer Samantha Phelan, BYU golfer Whitney Banz (the 2025 medalist at Wasatch Mountain) and New Mexico State golfer Rylee Salome were two shots back at 73.“It is really cool (to be the medalist),” Bayer said. “I didn’t know until my dad told me on the last green, so that was kind of fun to not know and be out there with him, and just (play) a good round.”Bayer said she “made a couple of long putts” to become the surprise medalist, including a 35-footer on No. 1 at Oakridge — No. 10 for her as she played the back nine first. She also made an eagle from 3 feet away on No. 16.“I am glad he doesn’t have to drive home tonight and go to work tomorrow. He can keep caddying for me, so that’s nice,” she said of her 62-year-old father.Bayer wasn’t listed among the favorites by the Deseret News in an article previewing the tournament on Sunday, but she is still an accomplished college golfer. She won medalist honors at the Sun Mountain Intercollegiate in Missoula, Montana last fall while competing as an individual, earning herself a spot in the full-time lineup. “I have a really great team at Weber, and my coach is amazing, so I couldn’t say enough good things about Weber,” she said.Interning at an Ogden bank this summer, Bayer said her boss was nice enough to give her the week off — as long as she keeps winning. “I think I can make a run, but there are a lot of really good players playing, so it’ll be fun to see how it goes,” she said.Tuesday, match play begins with Round of 32 and Round of 16 mat