Grace Summerhays is fearless. Her father, Boyd, loves that about his middle child. He saw it on the range Monday as she warmed up for a Korn Ferry Tour qualifier. It marked her third men’s event of the summer.
Grace, 15, shot 76 in the qualifier with double-bogeys on two par 5s. TalonsCove Golf Course played 7,021 yards. Those who finished at 7 under were in a playoff.
“I wanted to see how I stacked up against them,” Grace said matter-of-factly.
The Summerhays have a home in Utah that’s just down the road from Oakridge Country Club, site of this week’s Korn Ferry Tour event, the Utah Championship. Grace’s older brother Preston, 17, is competing this week on a sponsor exemption. He’ll play alongside his uncle, Daniel Summerhays, in the first two rounds. Her father Boyd, a former PGA Tour player, will be on Preston’s bag.
Grace would likely be in the gallery were it not for COVID-19 restrictions.
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The Summerhays are a tight bunch. Preston and Grace train together often (from the same tees). Younger brother Cameron, 12, is usually there too. And there are often quite a few top-notch amateurs and professionals around as well, working with Boyd. Three PGA Tour pros are among Boyd’s students: Tony Finau, Wyndham Clark and Scott Harrington.
“I hate losing to (Grace) so she is always pushing me,” said Preston, “which is fun.”
Finau has had a front-row seat to Grace’s rapid rise in the game.
“I’ve had a cool opportunity to watch Grace grow and mature into an amazing player,” Finau wrote in a text. “With her skillsets and work ethic I believe there is no ceiling on her potential. She also has a winning attitude and a super tough demeanor to go along with her skills. She’s not afraid to dream, and she puts in the work required to make her dreams become reality.”
Last summer Preston won the U.S. Junior title along with his second Utah State Am Championship.
After Preston won his first Utah State Am title, Grace thought it would be cool to be in the same field as Preston when he defended. At age 14, she became the fourth female and youngest to ever qualify for the Utah State Amateur. She then went on to celebrate her 15th birthday by becoming the second woman to ever advance to match play, tying for 29th in stroke-play qualifying out of a field of 288. (Annie Thurman Young became the first woman to advance to match play in 2004.)
Boyd Summerhays (left) poses with son Preston and daughter Preston (photo courtesy of Boyd Summerhays).
There’s a saying in the Summerhays family: The more you seek the uncomfortable, the more comfortable you become.
Grace is quickly mastering that mantra.
“She’s not intimidated playing against the men,” said Boyd. “She isn’t scared.”
Over the quarantine break, the Summerhays made a commitment to get faster and stronger in the gym, pushing each other six days a week.
Grace lost weight and gained a couple mph in her swing speed. She now averages 93 mph, with her highest speed clocking in at 97. She hits it about 275 yards in Utah – with elevation.
Given the Summerhays’ deep family golf history – we haven’t even mentioned Bruce Summerhays, Boyd’s uncle, who won three times on the PGA Tour Champions or Carrie, Boyd’s cousin, who competed on the LPGA and is now head coach at BYU – Boyd never wanted to pressure his kids.
Grace didn’t really get serious about the game until age 12. Swimming was her main sport before golf. Now she wants to be the No. 1 player in the world and possibly compete in a PGA Tour event. She’s in the Class of 2022, but takes online classes and might graduate a year early.
“Both Preston and Grace want to be the best in the world someday,” said Boyd. “You can’t become great at something without it being your passion.”
That’s why Boyd faithfully went to swim practice for years, careful not to force golf.
“Golf is definitely in my blood,” said Grace. “The good thing about our family is my dad never pressured me into playing golf, which I’m really glad. I think that grew me into the game even more, made it even more special. I grew to love the game by myself.”
Preston, who has committed to play college golf at Arizona State, said his dad moves seamlessly from coach to father to caddie because of how “chill” he is when it matters. Practice can be serious and intense. But during a tournament, Preston said, Boyd does the best he can to take the pressure off.
“I could go through my phone,” said Preston, “and show you the texts before every event: ‘No pressure, love you, you’re doing great, just have fun out there.’ ”
The goal this week, Preston said, is to finish in the top 25 so that he can compete in next week’s Korn Ferry Tour event.
Grace was overjoyed last week to learn that she’s exempt into this year’s U.S. Women’s Amateur via her Sweet 16 showing at last year’s Girls’ Junior (with Preston on the bag).
In addition to the men’s events, Grace has competed in three Utah Junior Golf Association events this summer and won two. She plans to try and qualify against the men again for the Utah State Amateur, which has moved to September. Preston, who became the youngest to win at age 16, will try to become the first three-time consecutive winner since the 1930s.
Boyd loves watching his kids play aggressively, unafraid to make mistakes.
“I was supposed to be finishing up the U.S. Open on Sunday,” said Preston, who earned an exemption into the championship thanks to his U.S. Junior victory. That too has been pushed back to September at Winged Foot Golf Club.
The Summerhays are just getting warmed up.
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