The Hideout is hoppin’ as summer hits home stretch

by Jeff Simon
Hideout Golf Club PGA Professional
As part of the City of Monticello’s Pioneer Day celebration, the Hideout Golf Club hosted its first ever long drive contest this past Saturday, July 23.
The 45 participating golfers were forced to battle the rain and wind during the contest but that didn’t stop them from hitting a few big bombs.
The biggest was by Josh Brown of Salt Lake City who won the open division with a smack of 344 yards. Just behind him was Moab junior golfer Wyatt Ambrose whose final swing of the day produced a drive of 341 yards. Not bad for a 15-year-old.
Vickie Thomas, hailing from Old La Sal, was tops in the women’s division with a solid drive of 128 yards. Winning the junior division for the girls was Monticello’s own Jade Nielson, launching her last shot of the day 246 yards.
Monticello’s Brian Boyd won the over-50 senior division with a 304-yard shot. Bruce Adams was the super senior division winner at 247 yards on his first swing of the day.
Hideout Junior
Golf Clinics
The Hideout is two-thirds of the way through its summer junior golf clinics and so far it’s been “mission accomplished.”
The goals of the clinics are to learn the fundamentals of golf, learn a little bit of golf etiquette, and lastly and most importantly that nobody gets hurt.
Participation in the first two clinics of the summer produced between 45 and 50 students mostly from Monticello and Blanding.
During the three-day sessions the junior golfers go through putting and chipping contests. Simon says the competitive nature of many of the young golfers comes out as they show off their new-found skills.
But the most fun they have is pulling out the driver on the driving range to see how far they can hit the golf ball. For some of the seven- and eight-year-olds, knocking the ball down the range 20 or 30 yards is a big thrill.
For the older golfers, getting the ball out by the 200-yard pole is a huge accomplishment and a lot of fun. Oftentimes the competition pits brothers against brothers and cousins against cousins.
The golf clinics also encourage the juniors to work together to perform certain drills and also promote physical fitness as they are taught how to prepare and stretch before participating in the clinics.
The final summer clinic is set for next Monday-Wednesday, August 8-10 from 10 a.m. until noon each day. Individual and group lessons are also available. Please call PGA Professional Jeff Simon at 435-298-8120 to set up appointments.
Hideout Shootout and Amateur
The Hideout Golf Club will host many of the top amateurs from Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado this weekend at the annual Hideout Shootout and Amateur tournaments.
Play begins Friday, July 29 with the two-man best ball event with over 70 teams competing in the flighted event.
The Amateur will begin with a 9:00 a.m. shotgun starts on Saturday and Sunday, July 30-31. St. George’s Michael Sweet is entered as the defending champion.
He shot rounds of 73 and 71 last year to claim the title by two shots over Colton Lamb and Brandon Lyon. Over 125 golfers are expected to play the 2022 event.