Mid-ams allow part-time golfers to compete

Golfers, just like everyone, go through stages in life.

There's the life of the rising teen star, which later evolves into the life of a college player and eventually into the life of an aspiring professional. For these people, golf is their life. They eat, drink and sleep golf. If they're not competing, they're practicing and trying to get better. Golf is basically their job. The driving range is their second home.

"Really, that's the only thing you do and care about," said former Utah Valley University golfer Darrin Overson. "In summer it's all you do. You hit balls all day, practice all day, play all day and then find tournaments to play in on the weekends."

However, for others — like Overson, now a husband, father and full-time salesman — they've passed that stage and moved on to the stage of true amateur. Golf is now a hobby, a pastime. Even though they still like to compete at the highest level, golf is no longer their top priority. Families, jobs, bills and a long list of responsibilities have replaced the free hours for practice and extensive dedication to the game.

"There's just a lot of other things that you have to think about besides yourself," said 2008 Utah State Amateur champion Dan Horner, married and a salesman of building materials. "You have other things on your mind all the time other than golf. So mentally, it's tough."

With yard work to do, cars to fix, mortgages to pay, kids to clothe and mouths to feed, the working-stiff golfers naturally have a disadvantage over the teen or college stars. Statistics prove that those who practice the most are more likely to shoot the lower scores.

"I'm just not as consumed with practice like I used to be," Horner admits.

Almost every winner of the Utah men's and women's amateur championships the past two decades have been college players. The United States Golf Association says more than 60 percent of those who advance in the U.S. Amateur are college players.

Recognizing this trend, the USGA in 1981 created a new national competition for golfers age 25 and older — the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship. The Utah Golf Association followed suit a short time later and began holding the Utah Mid-Amateur Championship. Now, the tournament even includes a masters division for players age 40 and older — won the past two years by Orem accountant Steve Borget, also a former Utah State Amateur champion.