JGAA alum Kyle Jones made headlines in 2020 with a big win at the Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank. His first and sole win on the Korn Ferry Tour. The Snowflake, Arizona native snatched victory from the hands of fellow competitors, Paul Haley and Daniel Summerhays, with a birdie on the second playoff hole of the Korn Ferry Tour event held at Oakridge Country Club. And he did so with the social media world pulling hard for Summerhays after he announced the tournament would be his last in favor of becoming “a teacher-mentor,” instead of a “touring golf pro.”
The well-wishers almost got their way, as Summerhays made a final-round charge to set the pace for Jones and Haley to chase. Both needed birdies on the final hole to win. Jones nearly knocked in his birdie pitch while Haley nailed a meat-on-the-bone come-backer for par.
In the playoff, Summerhays dropped out after the first hole, and Jones went on to make a 7-footer for birdie on the second extra hole to close out Haley.
“Honestly, right now, I’m pretty speechless. I’ve been waiting for this moment for quite a while,” Jones said after the win. “I knew I was good enough to win out here, and I just hadn’t been able to crack through. It feels pretty good, I’m pretty speechless right now.”
So far in 2023, Jones has competed in three events on the Korn Ferry Tour and recorded a top-25 finish in the Astara Chile Classic. In 2018, he received his PGA TOUR card f and played in a full calendar year where he achieved 10 made cuts and three top-25 finishes on TOUR.
From the looks of Jones’ JGAA history, he lets his play do the talking.
He started out in the Boys 11-12 division in 2005 and 27 events later, he finished up in the Boys Championship division in 2009, earning Player of the Year Honors that year after four wins, T3, T4, 5 and a pair of T10s in nine events entered.
He led Snowflake High School to three-straight Arizona Class 3A state golf championships, including four-straight individual Arizona state golf titles. In USGA play, Jones won 2010 U.S. Junior Amateur Qualifier and participated at 2010 U.S. Junior Amateur.
Jones’ record at Baylor University also was impressive, as the All-American became Baylor’s first-ever three-time Big 12 Men’s Golfer of the Month honoree. Jones earned three individual titles and 13 top-5 finishes. He is Baylor’s single-season stroke-average record holder at 70.47 (2014-15 season) and ranked third in program history with 71.93 career stroke average.
Jones’ story exemplifies the JGAA’s commitment to junior golfers across Arizona. Although he, no doubt, logged more travel miles than most to compete in JGAA tournaments, he certainly made the most of it.
