Scotts Valley native Ashley Gettleman won the inaugural Utah Girls’ Junior State Amateur Championship after a four-day battle against some of the best golfers in the country.
Gettleman, the No. 6 seed, rallied from a three-hole deficit for a 2-1 win over top seed Aadyn Long at Wasatch Mountain Golf Course outside of Salt Lake City on June 19.
“This is probably my biggest win yet,” Gettleman said. “[It’s] also one of the bigger tournaments I competed and did well in.”
Scotts Valley High girls’ golf coach Anders Ohlsson said Gettleman’s finish was fantastic. The one thing he quickly took notice of was Gettleman’s handicap is a whopping plus 2.9, which is two to three points better than it was during the Falcons golf season in fall 2023.
Ohlsson added that if Gettleman improves another two to three points, she can turn pro at any time.
“Most of the LPGA and PGA top players are somewhere around a plus 6 to a plus 8. Tiger [Woods] was at a plus 10 at the very height of his career. So, a plus 2.9 seems super close,” Ohlsson said.
Gettleman, who transferred and will be an incoming junior at Stevenson School, admitted she didn’t play her best golf on the front nine in Utah. She also wasn’t able to seize several opportunities presented to her.
It started with a mistake on a short-game error as Gettleman lost hole No. 8 to Long—a two-time Utah State champion and BYU commit.
Then on hole No. 9, Gettleman parred when she should have birdied from the position she was at.
“I think mentally, though, I was keeping my head really far up,” she said. “Shots will start falling soon, birdies will come and you’ll get your break.”
Gettleman was frustrated, yet it was what she called a “fiery frustration” that allowed her to get back in the match.
On the turn, Gettleman recorded a par on hole No. 10, while Long finished with a bogey.
Gettleman sunk a long 30-foot putt for birdie on the following hole but not without a bit of controversy.
Long claimed that Gettleman had played out of turn even though the rules officials verified Gettleman was not.
“It just got in her head, and then after that I just hit the gas and I guess pulled through,” Gettleman said.
Gettleman believes she was already in Long’s head the second they got on the tee box, especially because both golfers had never faced off against each other before.
A tournament victory not only gave her confidence that she can compete and win in different parts of the nation, but there was also a sense of pride.
“It’s not like I’m a big fish in a small pond,” Gettleman said. “After all, it is a big tournament, it was a state championship. I was competing with people from everywhere like from Nevada and Hawaii.”
Gettleman just competed with some of the best golfers from her home state in the 74th California Junior Girls State Championship at Monterey Peninsula Country Club in Pebble Beach on June 24-27.
Next up, Gettleman will compete in North Carolina, Virginia and Palm Desert.
“We’re kind of going everywhere, just trying to get the name out there,” she said.
