As the winner of the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur last November, Salt Lake City’s Kelsey Chugg earned a berth in the inaugural Celebration of Champions, a prelude to the U.S. Open. Tuesday’s exhibition at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in New York made Chugg part of this week’s celebration of Utah golf.
With the combination of her USGA national title and four Women’s State Amateur victories, the former Weber State golfer is in the conversation about Utah’s best female golfers in history. The U.S. Open brought her together with Tony Finau, who has become the best homegrown PGA Tour player the state ever produced, and Rhett Rasmussen, the first Utah high school graduate/active college golfer to qualify for the Open since 1980, when Jay Don Blake of Dixie competed during his Utah State career.