Sutton, Blair meet in Amateur showdown

LAYTON — The young men almost looked like twins, not only in their dress, but the manner in which they dispatched their more experienced opponents Saturday at the Men's State Amateur golf tournament.

Alex Sutton and Zac Blair, a pair of 18-year-olds both wearing purple shirts, white shorts, white hats and white shoes, survived two matches apiece at Valley View Golf Course and will meet today in a 36-hole championship match.

Sutton, a sophomore-to-be at Weber State, and Blair, who will be a freshman at BYU, won quarterfinal and semifinal matches to advance to the finals of Utah's most prestigious amateur tournament, which has been played for 110 straight years.

While Sutton led both of his matches most of the way, including a morning upset of defending champion Dan Horner, Blair needed comebacks to beat pre-tournament favorite Robbie Fillmore in the morning and Todd Francis in the afternoon, the latter after being 4 down with nine holes to play.

Tee-off time for the first 18 holes will be 7:30 a.m. with the second 18 set for noon.

Blair will be trying to follow in the footsteps of his father, Jimmy, who won the State Amateur in 1973, just before his freshman season at BYU. Zac, who will play for BYU in the fall, has been playing since he can remember, growing up across the street from the Mulligans Golf Course in Ogden.

"Since the first of the year this has been my goal," said Blair, who despite being just 120 pounds, smacks the ball as far as his opponents. "I played awesome this morning, and fortunately I got hot on the back (this afternoon.) When you start hitting it well, it's like a snowball effect. You get your confidence going."

Sutton is a late-bloomer who didn't even take up golf until he was 13, the summer before his freshman year of high school. He also has taken advantage of living near a golf course — just behind the No. 12 hole at Valley View where he could sneak on occasionally (don't tell the golf pro) — to help his game.

"I know this course well," he said. "I know where you have to be and where you can miss and where you can't, and I think that's an advantage out here. I love the course, and I've been hitting the ball really well coming in."

Blair had knocked off Fillmore, his future teammate at BYU, in the morning when he made nine birdies, one more than the former East High standout in an outstanding well-played match.