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A dramatic birdie on the third playoff hole delivers Moody the title in Wendover, while also punching his ticket to the PGA Professional Championship at Bandon Dunes.
With a 24-foot birdie putt on the third playoff hole at Toana Vista Golf Club, Riverside Country Club’s Chris Moody added his name to Utah golf history, defeating Tommy Sharp to win the Utah PGA Section Championship. The two matched 36-hole totals of 6-under 138 in the Sept. 9–10 event in West Wendover, Nevada, setting up a finish that was every bit as dramatic as the desert landscape.
The win makes Moody the first player to capture both the Senior Section Championship and the Section Championship in the same season—a double nobody had accomplished since the creation of the Senior Section Championship in 2008.
“I feel incredible. Honestly, I am a bit emotional,” Moody said moments after the winning putt dropped. “It’s just been, you know, what a great two week run that I’ve had. My game has just sucked all summer long. And then, you know, it’s fun to find a little game and win this championship and become qualified for the PGA Professional Championship.”
For a player we’ve grown accustomed to seeing excel consistently in Section events, Moody’s self-assessment drew laughter from the media. “That’s pretty dang cool,” he admitted, before reflecting on what he’d just achieved. “Well, I mean, you look at all the great players that we’ve had here, for as many years as we’ve had here in the Utah Section. I mean, we’ve got so many, just a great lineage of them for the last 50-60 years. And to be one of those, the only one to do that, that’s kind of a shocker to me, honestly, but it’s pretty cool.”
The championship run required Moody to stay steady in a closing stretch where the winds grew stronger in the late afternoon and the leaderboard tightened.
“I hadn’t looked at the live scoreboard all day long, until the 16th hole after I made birdie on our 15th hole, which is number six,” he explained. “I felt like it wasn’t playing real easy. You just never know when you’re out here in Wendover. I saw that Tommy was at 6-under, and I was at five with like four or five other guys. I hit a lot of great shots coming in … on number seven, made a great drive, great second shot, just missed it right at the bottom. I hit a nice little iron on the next hole, and two putted. Then a great little wedge in there (hole 18), about 15 to 17 feet, just saw the line and made it for birdie. It was great to get into the playoff with Tommy Sharp.”
That birdie at the last proved essential, sending the two Section veterans into extra holes where neither backed down. After two trips down the 9th hole in the playoff, the dramatic finish was set on the green of the third playoff hole, the first hole at Toana Vista. “You know, it’s like one of those putts, you just see the line,” Moody said. “It was almost like it was destiny for it to go in. I hit the putt and it was just dead center. It was great. It was 24-feet. I saw the line and I putted it right. When I hit it, I just knew it was going to go in. It was just a nice tumbling roll. So, it was exciting. I don’t get excited a lot on the golf course, but it was, like, probably the most excited I’ve been in a long time. So that is really cool.”
Moody’s victory also secures his place in the PGA Professional Championship next spring, a trip he’s already looking forward to. “It’s going to be fun. I have a brother that caddies up at Bandon Dunes, and when I saw it was in the rotation, you know, I marked that on my calendar. I’m like, ‘I have to make that so my brother can caddy for me.’ So, that’s going to be a blast. I can’t even wait to go up there and play there in April.”
For a player who’s already written much of the modern history of Utah Section golf, this win adds yet another chapter. Chris Moody isn’t just back in form—he’s now part of a record that may stand the test of time.
While Moody will be competing in the national Senior PGA Professional Championship as Utah’s Senior Section champion, the door opens for Sharp. As runner-up in Wendover, he accepted the champion’s exemption into next month’s PGA TOUR Bank of Utah Championship at Black Desert Resort—a reward that comes from the drama of their playoff finish.
Sharp will also be among the Utah PGA professionals joining Moody at the national PGA Professional Championship next year. Others qualifying from Wendover were Zach Johnson (-5), Todd Tanner (-5), Haley Sturgeon (-4), Tele Wightman (-4), and Evan Wartgow (-4). Players who finished at 3-under 141 battled in a playoff for alternate positions, with Joe Summerhays, Matt Baird, Tracy Zobell and Casey Fowles earning alternate spots in that order.
Also worth noting from this year’s Section Championship, Scott Brandt walked away with a pair of trophies, claiming both the Senior and Super-Senior division titles with a 7-under 137 on rounds of 67-70. Haley Sturgeon made history with her 4-under 71-69—140, winning the women’s division and tying for 5th place on the overall leaderboard. In doing so, she became the first woman in Utah PGA history to qualify for the PGA Professional Championship.
In the Legend Division, longtime Section veteran 71-year old Kim Thompson posted a 7-over 151 to edge Bob Rudd by two shots for the win.
Every year, the Utah PGA Section Championship crowns a champion, sends top finishers on to the national stage, and adds another chapter to the history of Utah golf. This year at Toana Vista Golf Club, that history came with an exclamation point.
Haley Sturgeon, Assistant Professional at The Country Club, became the first female Utah PGA professional to qualify for the national PGA Professional Championship. Her 4-under par total of 140 on rounds of 71–69 earned her a tie for 5th place, inside the top seven qualifier cutoff, and with it, a spot in the 2025 PGA Professional Championship.
No woman in the history of the Utah Section has ever done what Sturgeon just accomplished.
“Being my first Section Championship, I was just so excited to finally be there,” Sturgeon told Utah Golf Radio hosts Paul Pugmire, Jan Brownstein, and Section member Tommy Sharp. “As an associate, you always dream of it—getting your Class A and earning the chance to play. To compete and qualify my first time in, that’s just unbelievable.”
Unbelievable, maybe. But make no mistake—it was also earned.
Sturgeon opened her first round at Toana Vista carding five birdies on the front nine, including a streak of three straight on holes seven, eight, and nine. She made the turn at 4-under and steadied herself on the back, closing with a birdie on 18 for a 71. Day two was all about patience and execution. With the notes she had made from round one in hand, Sturgeon played smart, steady golf. She dropped a birdie on the par-5 6th, then rolled in what turned out to be the pivotal putt of her championship—a tricky downhill slider on seven for another birdie, her 15th and 16th holes of the final round.
“That was a big one, but I had no idea what it meant at the time,” Sturgeon said. “I never once looked at the leaderboard. I just didn’t want that extra pressure. I was just trying to play smart and let it happen.”
When she walked off 18 and turned in her card, she realized what she had done. Tied for 5th. In.
“It was surreal. People started congratulating me, and I thought, ‘Okay, I had a good round.’ Then I looked at the board and saw I was T5 and thought, holy cow. I had no idea. I was just out there playing.”
Sturgeon’s finish wasn’t just about personal accomplishment. It carried weight for women’s golf in Utah and beyond.
“I thought about it on the way home, wondering if a woman from Utah had ever done this before. When I realized I was the first, it just felt incredible. Hopefully this inspires younger girls and women to know they can play at this level, too.”
Sturgeon is now part of a short but significant list of female PGA professionals who have earned their way into the PGA Professional Championship, names like Susie Whaley, Joanna Coe, and Ashley Greer. And now, Utah has one of its own.
For Sturgeon, the focus now shifts to preparation. “Lots of TrackMan practice rounds,” she said with a laugh.
But whatever comes next, her place in Utah PGA history is already secured. At Toana Vista, Haley Sturgeon didn’t just make the top five. She made history.
Utah PGA Section Qualifiers for the 2025 PGA Professional Championship
Seven Utah PGA professionals punched their tickets to next April’s national PGA Professional Championship thanks to their finishes at the Section Championship in Wendover:
Chris Moody – Section Champion (-6)*Tommy Sharp – Runner-up (-6)Zach Johnson – (-5)Todd Tanner – (-5)Haley Sturgeon – (-4) First female Utah PGA professional ever to qualifyTele Wightman – (-4)Evan Wartgow – (-4)
*Won a three hole playoff
While Utah PGA Section Champion Chris Moody will compete in the national Senior PGA Professional Championship next month in Florida, a new door has opened for Salt Lake City’s Tommy Sharp.
As the Section Championship runner-up this week at Toana Vista Golf Club in Wendover, Sharp, a PGA Teaching Professional at the Salt Lake Golf Academy, accepted the Section Champion’s exemption into the PGA TOUR’s Bank of Utah Championship at Black Desert Resort, set for Oct. 23–26 in Ivins.
Sharp and Moody each posted matching 6-under par 138 totals over 36 holes before Moody secured the Section Championship title with a birdie on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff. For Sharp, the disappointment of missing a short putt to win on the first playoff hole was softened by the news of his PGA TOUR start.
“Yeah, it definitely softened the blow from missing the 3-footer to win on the first playoff hole this week,” Sharp said. “This will be my second PGA TOUR event—I played in the 2016 PGA Championship. I am unbelievably excited to play in the event. My oldest boy was only 3 years old and we actually found out that we were pregnant the night before the first round of the PGA Championship with my youngest son in 2016. It has been my goal since then to get back to a PGA Tour event so that they would be old enough to remember seeing me play. Now they are 12 and 8 and I can’t wait for them to be there with me.”
That family perspective is fueling Sharp’s motivation. “I think I’ll be more comfortable and know what to expect this time around. I have no delusions of winning the event but I think I can make the cut if I play solid golf.”
Sharp was candid about his 2024 season, calling it one of his toughest years since his 2016 PGA Championship appearance. “Overall, my season has been an utter disappointment,” he admitted. “The game has definitely changed as my kids have gotten older because I pretty much only play with them or in tournaments. As a result, my game is nowhere near as sharp as it was (in 2016), but I wouldn’t change getting to play with them for anything.”
Sharp admitted that Bandon Dunes, the site of the 2026 PGA Professional Championship, was on his mind. “Bandon Dunes is my favorite place I have ever played and it actually put an added pressure on the Section Championship this year as I wanted to qualify so bad,”
Sharp said. “Making it back to the PGA Professional Championship and the added bonus of getting to play a PGA TOUR event in my home state makes up for all of the poor golf this summer.”
In October, Sharp will get that chance at Black Desert Resort—on one of Utah golf’s biggest stages, with his kids finally old enough to see him tee it up against the world’s best.
