Daniel Summerhays, Cole Ponich and Preston Summerhays. The threesome was pretty much out there by themselves for four-and-a-half hours except for their respective caddies and a handful of followers. But this was different even if the gallery following the trio during the first round of the Korn Ferry Tour’s Utah Championship never reached double digits with anywhere from three to six media members and a couple of volunteers following the action. “I played really well, I made my goal — I wanted to make five birdies and I got that, just added a few bogeys in there. Overall I’m pretty happy for not having played a tournament for six months. I definitely felt the nerves and competitive juices again.” — Daniel Summerhays Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, no fans are allowed on the grounds of Oakridge to watch the golf tournament, although several family members of the threesome were able to cheer them on from a distance at certain spots around the golf course. While they each shot under par for the day, 69s for Daniel Summerhays and Ponich and a 70 for Preston Summerhays, none of the three are anywhere close to the lead, which belongs to Stephan Jaeger, a 31-year-old from Germany, and Harry Hall, a 22-year-old former UNLV golfer from England, who both shot 8-under-par 63. Former champion Josh Teater (2009), T.J. Vogel, Ryan Ruffels, Kyle Jones and Chandler Blanchet each shot 64, while four golfers came in at 65. A huge group of 20 golfers stand at 66. Action continues Friday with a cut for the low 65 golfers plus ties, who will get to play Saturday and Sunday. For Daniel Summerhays this is a bittersweet week as he is playing his final tournament as a touring professional golfer at the course he grew up on. He has decided that he is going to hang up the golf shoes and become a schoolteacher/golf coach at nearby Davis High School beginning this fall. Instead of a 500-person gallery that he enjoyed last year when he finished sixth at the same tournament, Summerhays can’t even have his wife, Emily, follow him this year. “My wife’s dying that she’s not able to walk with me,” he said. Instead she and the couple’s four children caught glimpses of him through the fence along Shepard Lane and at a couple of places on the course where backyards of houses adjoin the course. When Daniel would walk by, one of the kids would raise a sign that read, “We’re with you every step.” Related Daniel Summerhays reflects on ‘amazing’ career as he rides off into the sunset at this week’s Utah Championship “It’s not easy to try to corral four kids 12 and under on the side of a busy road — she’s amazing,” Daniel said of his wife. Summerhays started with a bang, rolling in a 25-foot birdie putt at No. 1 with several extended family members looking on from afar. But he bogeyed the next hole and finished his front nine at even par. Back-to-back birdies at No. 2 and No. 3 put him under par and he added another bird at No. 7 with a bogey at No. 5 in between. “I played really well. I made my goal — I wanted to make five birdies and I got that, just added a few bogeys in there,” he said. “Overall I’m pretty happy for not having played a tournament for six months. I definitely felt the nerves and competitive juices again.” Ponich, who just turned 20 earlier this week, plays for the BYU golf team and qualified for his first big professional tournament by shooting a 63 earlier this week at the Monday qualifier at Talons Cove GC. He bogeyed the first hole, before getting back to even par with a birdie at No. 9. He got to 2-under with birdies at holes No. 7 and No. 9, the latter from 18 feet. “I got off to a slow start with the putter, after that I hit the ball great all day, executed and played pretty solid,” Ponich said. “The pairing was fun. It was cool playing with two guys I know really well.” Seventeen-year-old Preston Summerhays, the two-time defending champion of the Utah State Amateur, had an inconsistent first nine with four birdies and a double bogey. Then after making a bogey, he reeled off eight straight pars on the second nine. Last year, when he was also playing on a sponsor’s exemption, young Summerhays barely missed the cut with a second-day 73. Grid View Cole Ponich blasts out of the sand on the 8th hole during the Utah Championship golf tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington on Thursday, June 25, 2020. Steve Griffin, Deseret News Preston Summerhays, right, tees off on the 9th hole as his caddie and father Boyd Summerhays, left, and his uncle and playing partner, Daniel Summerhays, watch during the Utah Championship golf ournament on the Korn Ferry Tour at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington on Thursday, June 25, 2020. Steve Griffin, Deseret News Preston Summerhays gets some advice about hitting over a tree from his caddie, Boyd Summerhays, who is also his father as they play in the Utah Championship golf tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington on Thursday, June 25, 2020. Steve Griffin, Deseret News Cole Ponich, right, bumps elbows with Preston Summerhays after finishing the first round of the Utah Championship golf tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington on Thursday, June 25, 2020. Danial Summerhays, left, rounded out the threesome during the first round. Steve Griffin, Deseret News Daniel Summerhays follows through on his tee shot on the 8th hole during the Utah Championship golf tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington on Thursday, June 25, 2020. Steve Griffin, Deseret News Preston Summerhays watches his tee shot on the 8th hole during the Utah Championship golf tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington on Thursday, June 25, 2020. Steve Griffin, Deseret News Daniel Summerhays leaves his putt short on the seventh hole during the Utah Championship golf tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington on Thursday, June 25, 2020. Summerhays played with Cole Ponich, left, and his nephew Preston Summerhays. Steve Griffin, Deseret News Cole Ponich hits his tee shot on the 8th hole during the first round of the Utah Championship golf tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington on Thursday, June 25, 2020. Steve Griffin, Deseret News Preston Summerhays blasts over a tree and hits the green on the 8th hole during the Utah Championship golf tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington on Thursday, June 25, 2020. Steve Griffin, Deseret News “I definitely left a couple of shots out there last year, but I feel confident going into tomorrow to go out and shoot a low one,” he said. Another Utahn playing this week is Patrick Fishburn, who grew up in Ogden and played golf for BYU. He’s playing the Korn Ferry Tour for the first time and came into the tournament in 44th place on the points list thanks to a fourth-place finish earlier this year. He bogeyed two of his first four holes, but came back strong with three birdies on his second nine for a 68 that puts him in a tie for 46th place. Fishburn said he played “OK” and added, “I didn’t score as well as I’d like. But I’m going to try to go low tomorrow.” Mike Weir, the former Masters champion, who is gearing up to join the Champions Tour after turning 50 last month, had a nice finish with an eagle at 15 and a birdie at 16 to finish at 68. All five of the local golfers have a chance to make the cut, but will need to come in around 5-under par for two rounds. Jaeger has won four times on the Korn Ferry (formerly Web.com) Tour since 2016 and played on the PGA Tour for two years. Hall, who is playing in just his second Korn Ferry Tour event after missing the cut two weeks ago, had 10 birdies on the day, but was hurt by a double bogey at No. 5. “The emotion I’m feeling is gratitude,” Daniel Summerhays said. “I have my brother David on the bag for me and paired with my nephew and my brother Boyd (caddy). It’s pure gratitude to be here at Oakridge, Farmington Utah, Korn Ferry Tour, What a dream to add a sub-70 round, a little cherry for me.” Next Up In Sports