Black Desert athlete Ali Mulhall worth keeping an eye on as 118th Utah Women’s State Amateur begins

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Junior golf phenom Ali Mulhall is playing in the 118th Utah Women’s State Amateur for the first time ever this week at TalonsCove Golf Club, having heard “great things about it” as she has played competitive golf throughout the country.

The 19-year-old hopes her first appearance at the event will be her last.

Mulhall, who recently won her 350th golf tournament — no, that’s not a typo — plans to turn professional this fall and begin the qualifying process for the LPGA Tour. She will enter what is called “Q-School” in late August needing to get through three stages to make the world’s premier golf tour for women.

“I am really trying to go in with no expectations,” Mulhall said last week after shooting a 6-under 66 in a practice round at TalonsCove. “I just need to play the game I know I can play, stay in the process, and play day-by-day and not get too far ahead of myself. I am just excited to be in the competition.”

Mulhall has played in hundreds of Utah junior golf events, and currently calls St. George home. She works as a “Black Desert athlete” at the relatively new Black Desert Resort, which will host a PGA Tour event this fall and an LPGA event in 2025.

“I am out there practicing and doing some women’s and junior clinics out there,” she said. The work enables her to retain her amateur status for the time being.

Mulhall has a scholarship offer from UNLV, but will use this upcoming academic year as a “gap year.” She will be able to use that grant-in-aid to the Las Vegas school if she doesn’t get through Q-School.

“I got talking to some (professional) players that had moved to St. George and they said to try it, and I got to pick their brains, and me and my dad decided it was the best route to go,” she said.

Mulhall’s dad is Chris Mulhall, former head golf professional at Morgan’s Round Valley Golf Course. The family mostly lived in the Las Vegas area the past three years, where Ali helped lead Coronado High to three Nevada Class 5A team golf championships. She won the 5A individual title last fall.

She lists winning the prestigious Drive, Chip & Putt competition at Augusta National in 2021 as her most noteworthy accomplishment in golf, then casually mentions in passing that she hit her “350th tournament win a couple weeks ago.”

She won 20 of the 26 tournaments she played in last year, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“I’ve played in tournaments all across the country, but I think Utah has the best women’s golf (system) and tournaments,” she said. “Junior golf here is amazing. The UGA does phenomenal tournaments, so we just kind of stuck around here (this summer) and will do some national tournaments as well.”

2024 Utah Women’s State Amateur

Ali Mulhall’s younger sister, Molli, is also in the field of 60 players for the tournament, which begins Wednesday with 18 holes of stroke-play qualifying for match play.

The match play Round of 32 will be held Thursday morning, and the Round of 16 will be played Thursday afternoon.

The quarterfinals are Friday morning, and the semifinals are Friday afternoon. The 18-hole championship match is Saturday. For the first time, the champion of the Utah Women’s Amateur will receive an exemption into the 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur, which will be contested Aug. 5-11 at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The exemption “is a new thing, and that is an exciting addition to this tournament, and for women’s golf in Utah in general,” said five-time champion Kelsey Chugg, associate golf director for the Salt Lake City Golf Division. “It is a new thing. And that is an exciting addition to this, and for golf in general. It is going to help participation in this event moving forward. … It is a big prize, for sure.”

Ali Mulhall and Chugg have to be considered the favorites, along with 2020 champion Grace Summerhays , a standout golfer for Arizona State.

Former Bingham High, Sacramento State and Iowa State golfer Tess Blair defeated Summerhays in the championship match last year at Jeremy Ranch, but she is not entered this year.

Chugg, 33, won an amateur tournament in the Boston area in May, but has to balance her full-time job with her golf practicing. She is “hoping” her game is in good enough shape to contend with the college golfers and fast-rising juniors.

Ali Mulhall suggested the cut for match play will be “around 4-over,” while Chugg thinks it will be “a little higher than that.”

“A player with good course management will thrive here. It is really imperative that you get your tee shots in the fairway. I heard they are going to grow the rough out more and it is already challenging,” Chugg said. “You also have to make sure you are on the right portions of the greens, because they are big.”

Other favorites to keep an eye on include Nebraska golfer Arden Louchheim (from Park City) and 2023 semifinalist Jane Olson.

Teenagers Saydie Wagner, Kate Walker and Ashley Lam, who are members of Utah’s Junior Americas Cup team, are also entered.

Another favorite is Faith Vui, who won the New Zealand Women’s Amateur last November as an 18-year-old, becoming the first Samoan to win that event.