At least in Utah golfing circles, Masen Ward is no longer a complete unknown.
Ward, 25, won the 2025 Richard C. Kramer Salt Lake City Amateur on Sunday night, seemingly coming out of nowhere to edge a pair of BYU golfers — Peter Kim and Jackson Mauss — by a stroke at Bonneville Golf Course with a two-round total of 6-under 138.
After shooting a 2-under 70 on Saturday, Ward broke out of the pack with a 68 on Sunday to win one of the more prestigious amateur golf events in the state and put his name on a trophy that includes many of the biggest names in Utah golf.
Ward, obviously, isn’t one of those big names — yet.
Sure, after graduating from Grand County High in Moab, he played golf for four years at Westminster College (now Westminster University) in Salt Lake City and for a year at Tarleton State in Texas, but other than that his biggest accomplishment in golf before Sunday was winning the Moab Amateur when he was a freshman in college.
“I haven’t really won a big tournament, I guess, ever, so it is pretty cool, especially not (getting) to play a lot of golf now that I have a job,” he said.
“It was fun out there today. It was a grind, but after that hole-in-one I really kicked it into gear and got settled down and started to make some birdies.”
Wait, what? A hole-in-one?
Sure enough, Ward aced the 200-yard 9th hole, a shot that for all intents and purposes won him the golf tournament.
“I yelled as loud as I could,” after the knockdown 7-iron landed above the hole, then rolled downhill and found the bottom of the cup, Ward said. “I couldn’t be happier.”
Years ago, before the nines were flipped, the gnarly downhill par-3 9th hole at Bonneville was the venerable layout’s 18th hole, and it ruined many a good round because of its sheer difficulty.
Imagine if it was still No. 18 on Sunday; Now that would have been quite the finish.
As it were, the finish was pretty good, anyway, after Ward bogeyed the par-4 18th to let a few golfers remaining on the course back into it, including Mauss.
The former Corner Canyon product who redshirted for BYU this past season is the brother of last year’s City Am champion, Bowen Mauss, who just graduated from Corner Canyon and is on his senior trip this week and unable to defend his title.
Jackson Mauss birdied the par-5 16th and sank a 10-footer for par on No. 17, then needed a birdie on No. 18 to force a playoff. After someone drove a golf cart over his ball in the 18th fairway, he was able to replace it but wasn’t able to make a birdie after a so-so approach and had to settle for the second-place tie with Kim, who shot 67 on Sunday.
Former Flagler College golfer and current Rowland Hall golf coach Spencer Schindler placed fourth at -4, while Parker Bunn, Steven Croft and Cameron Crawford tied for fifth at -3.
Last year, Bowen Mauss shot -8 to win by a stroke, while in 2023 Sean Lampropoulos shot -6 to take the title, so Ward’s win is certainly no fluke — but quite unexpected, just like the ace on No. 9.
“It is really special,” he said of the win. “I have never won a tournament this big. It is really cool, and really special to be a part of that and be a part of that legacy of the City Am.”
Ward now lives in Layton and works as a project manager, so the amount of golf he can play is limited. He’s not even sure he will play in the Utah State Amateur in July at Logan Country Club.
The day before the City Am, he wasn’t totally sure he would play in it. That’s because he wrecked on his mountain bike on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, and was “pretty sore,” in addition to being scraped up a bit on one of his arms.
Now he’s a City Am champion, and not completely unknown.
“I have told myself for a long time — people should know who I am,” he said when it was suggested he won’t be sneaking up on any Utah tournament fields any more. “So we will see.”
Richard C. Kramer
Salt Lake City Amateur
At par-72 Bonneville Golf Course
Championship Flight Results
138 — Masen Ward (70-68)
139 — Peter Kim (72-67), Jackson Mauss (69-70)
140 — Spencer Schindler (70-70)
141 — Parker Bunn (74-67), Steven Croft (71-70), Cameron Crawford (70-71)
142 — Devin Tovey (70-72), Stuart Gold (70-72), Tanner Telford (70-72)
143 — Noah Nickish (75-68), Zach Felts (72-71), Chase Goetschel (71-72), Riley Olsen (69-74)
144 — Derek Penman (70-74), Maddox Vincent (69-75)
145 — Krew Labrum (75-70), Noah Moody (75-70), Nikko Taggart (73-72), Peyton Hastings (71-74), David Jennings (71-74), Alex DeBry (69-76), Will Pizza (68-77)
Flight 1 Low Gross
143 — Bauer Kuemmel (75-68)
Flight 1 Low Net
145 — Daniel Johnson (75-70)
Flight 2 Low Gross
154 — Matt Stern (75-79)
Flight 2 Low Net
142 — Matt Stern (69-73)
147 — Nalin Maxfield (70-77)
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