OREM — There's more than one way to tame a golf course. You can do it with lots of birdies, or you can do it with none.
In winning medalist honors Monday in Region 7's third match at Cascade Fairways, Timpview's Derek Hislop fired a 71 by making birdie on four of his first six holes and then sandwiching seven bogeys with birdies on his final two holes.
The second spot went to Payson's Bryan York, who used the steady and safe philosophy in posting a 3-over-par 73, good enough to tie Springville's Ryan Rigby.
"I tried to keep the ball in the fat part of the green and make a lot of pars," York said.
York had three bogeys on the day and 15 pars. He lipped out his only realistic chance for birdie. He opened with a 2-over 37 on his first nine and finished with a 1-over-par 36 on his second nine. The golfers played Cascade's front side twice, but from different tee boxes each time through.
"Usually I have a good front nine and get nervous and don't play good on the back nine," York said. "But today I stayed calm and played better on the last nine."
Finishing alone in fourth at 74 was Timpview's Tommy Forsman, who had two 6s on his card in a front-side 40 before adding three birdies in a backside 34. Orem freshman Dalton Stanger shot even par on his final nine for a 75.
Behind Hislop's hot day and Forsman's reliable 74, and with a 76 from teammate Cody Parkinson, Timpview won its first team match of the year by edging Springville by three strokes. The Red Devils are still clinging to a 36-stroke lead in the season total, however. Payson is 51 strokes back.
Payson's Ryan Fillmore leads the overall individual race with a three-round total of 224, eight strokes in front of Springville's Clark Fredrickson. The league's next match is set for Monday at Hobble Creek.
REGION 4: In the league's first match last Friday at the Ranches at Eagle Mountain, the two stars from 2006 picked up right where they left off last season. Timpanogos' Jeff Holmes and Spanish Fork's Garrett Moss, on a windy and hot day, both fired 1-over-par 73s to share medalist honors. Kasey Dupre of Timpanogos came in two shots back with a 75, while Lone Peak's Joe Parkinson posted a 76.
Spanish Fork took a slim two-stroke lead in the team competition with a score of 398. Timpanogos came in at 400 and Lone Peak stands in third at 414. The next Region 4 match is scheduled for Thursday at Wasatch Mountain State Park.
E-mail: jimr@desnews.com