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MIDWAY — With one last summer before shelving his golf clubs for two years, recent Crimson Cliffs graduate Lincoln Markham is starting off with a bang.
The BYU signee rallied from a second-hole deficit to take a 3-up lead after six holes and never let up en route to a 7 and 6 win over Morgan's Lance Loughton to clinch the inaugural Utah Golf Association junior amateur title Wednesday at Wasatch Mountain Golf Course.
"The state am is one of my favorite events to play," said Markham, who is part of the "What's Inside?" family with more than 7 million followers on YouTube. "It's just great. These guys are great hosts, and nobody hosts tournaments better than (the UGA). It's an honor to win this event."
Loughton took an early lead Wednesday with a birdie on the par-4 second hole. But Markham didn't stay down for long, winning five of the next seven holes from the defending 3A state medalist to take a 4-up lead before the back nine and cruising to the win.
If Wednesday looked easy, Markham's path to the championship was anything but.
After qualifying for the 32-player match-play bracket with the No. 17 seed, Markham stunned top-seeded Toatele Ofahengaue of Lehi, 3 and 2, in the Round of 16. But the St. George product wasn't done, knocking off Olympus' Austin Shelley, 4 and 3, in the quarterfinals.
Markham held off fellow double-digit seed Bridger Johnson, 3 and 2, in Tuesday's semifinals to set up Wednesday's championship tilt with Loughton — the No. 3 overall seed who held off Brock Porter in a 19-hole semifinal.
"There were a lot of great players in the field," Markham said. "I think there were over 100 junior golfers in the field; and over the last 3-4 years, I've been fortunate to play with some really great players. They've helped me to be able to get to college, and there are so many other collegiate golfers coming up, too."
Loughton agreed.
"I think Utah junior golf is the best it's ever been right now," said Loughton, a rising senior at Morgan. "A lot of other juniors say the same thing. It's a great competition here; you're going to have a competitive match, no matter what. There are so many good players out there, and it makes it fun — because I'm really competitive."
With the win, Markham — who will depart for a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in September — earned an automatic exemption into the Utah amateur championship July 8-13 at Ogden Golf and Country Club.
"I'm just trying to play in pretty much every event I can," Markham said. "I've got plenty of time to play some golf, and I'm hanging out up here. Then I'll go on a mission, come back and go play golf at BYU."
