Another Summerhays is getting golf raves

He's the latest All-American golfer to roll off the line at BYU.

He's a humble yet stone-cold, driven competitor, blessed with a velvet putting stroke, powerful launch off the tee, solid irons and the right golf name.

Daniel Summerhays, nephew of Senior PGA Tour veteran Bruce Summerhays, is up to his Pings in summer amateur competition on a national level, where he hopes to earn enough points and recognition to make the Walker Cup team that will represent the United States in Ireland this fall. To do so, he'll continue a blistering schedule that began after his No. 4 finish in the NCAA Tournament earlier this month.

Summerhay's play at the NCAA championship was the best performance by a BYU golfer in 20 years. It included rounds of 74-63-68-70 for a 275 on a Williamsburg, Va., course at which he set the course record last fall.

Young Daniel is now going shoulder-to-shoulder with the best amateurs in the land — most of whom we'll see on the PGA Tour some day. He finished 21st in the Sunnehanna Amateur, No. 8 at the Monroe Invitational and No. 5 at the Northeast Amateur. He still has the Pacific Coast, Western and U.S. Amateurs.

He's getting the itch. Future PGA stars Chris Kirk, Dustin Johnson and Oklahoma State-bound Ricky Fowler consider him their buddy. He's entered an elite circle.

Fowler, a long-hitting California prep star, is considered the next superstar in golf. He set the Sun River course record in St. George during a casual round with the head pro last summer. A few weeks ago, playing with Fowler in a tournament during a 30-mile-an-hour headwind, Summerhays blasted his drives past Fowler by 30 yards.

"Hey, you're making me feel like a short-knocker," Fowler told Summerhays.

At 5-foot-7 and just over 200 pounds, that was music to Summerhay's ears.

"What I've learned most is that I've gained a lot of confidence playing with these guys, knowing that I belong, that I can compete, that I am one of them," said Summerhays on Monday.

One of only 10 members of the All-America team, Summerhays finished his junior season at BYU with the seventh best stroke average in NCAA history (69.83). It was the lowest in the NCAA this season and the only sub-70 average. Summerhays is the first Cougar golfer to attain first-team status since Brent Franklin in 1986.

What this means locally is Summerhays cannot afford to take time off from his national schedule to play in the Utah State Amateur next month at Thanksgiving Point. The runner-up to Tony Finau and a two-time champion of that event, his absence and Finau's decision to turn professional leaves that storied weeklong event wide open.