Rustand awarded State Am title

Perhaps it was only fitting that one of the most unusual State Amateur golf tournaments ever — thanks to the inclusion and success of Annie Thurman, the event's first female golfer — should end in bizarre fashion a day earlier than expected.

Instead of the usual scene of a large crowd cheering on the new champion in the middle of the final green Sunday afternoon, just a dozen or so people stood on the patio Saturday afternoon in front of the Jeremy Golf & Country Club clubhouse where Clark Rustand was awarded the large State Am trophy in an impromptu ceremony.

Rustand, a 24-year-old BYU student from Tucson, Ariz., defeated defending champion Tommy Sharp 2 and 1 in a semifinal match. He would have faced Todd Miller, who beat BYU teammate Clay Bingham 6 and 5 in the other semifinal, today at 7:30 a.m. in a 36-hole final.

The only problem is, Miller wasn't going to be there under any circumstance.

No, Miller isn't sick or injured or leaving on vacation. It's just that he makes it a policy not to play golf on Sundays and not even the prospect of winning the most prestigious amateur title in Utah is going to make him change his mind.

He hoped that the finals could perhaps be played on Monday and Rustand even offered to share top honors as co-champions. But the Utah Golf Association Board of Directors, after meeting with each golfer, decided the only fair decision was to declare Rustand the winner by forfeit.

"I feel sad the decision (by Miller) wasn't made earlier because all of our volunteers have spent all week up here and we're all scheduled to be up here (today) and the country club did everything to make it great for us," said UGA executive director Joe Watts. "We've had players before who haven't entered this tournament because they won't play on Sunday. I think that's the way to do it."

Rustand, who was a JC All-American for Utah Valley State College before playing briefly for BYU, was making his first appearance in the State Am. Although he was the No. 28 seed going into match play, he is a worthy champion after defeating medal runner-up Zach Johnson in the first round, former professional John Owen in the second round and teenager Steele DeWald in the quarterfinals before stopping Sharp.

He's not the first champion to win by forfeit. Back in 1957, Joe Bernolfo was declared champion when Ralph Johnson couldn't compete because of a bad back after warming up on the range.

In the semifinal match, Rustand took a quick two-hole lead on the defending champ with a long birdie putt at No. 2 and an eagle putt at No. 3. He was still one up at the turn and after the two traded birdies at 10, 11 and 12, the lead was back to two.