RIVERTON — Robbie Boettger felt a familiar nervousness with his teammate and biggest rival, Jake Eyre, approaching the 17th hole of Thursday's 1A high school golf championship at Riverbend Golf Course.
"I knew I had a chance (to win); I was nervous," said the senior who ended up winning the individual title by a single stroke. "He told me his score when he was on hole 17."
As nervous as Boettger was, the pressure was on his teammate on the final hole when he had to a make a two-and-a-half foot putt to tie, according to their coach.
"He knew he had to make it," said Intermountain Christian golf coach Matt Snyder. Once Eyre missed it, Boettger could exhale.
He said the two have been competing for the team's top spot all season.
"We've definitely been competitive a lot this year," said Boettger who won the individual title with a score of 164, while Eyre was second with 165. ICS earned the team title easily with a total of 667 strokes. "It was a lot of fun. We've been competing all year, and most of the matches a different person comes out on top."
That competition amongst the players made Snyder's job fairly easy this season.
"As a coach, I hardly had to do anything except schedule the tee times," said Snyder. "They were motivated all the time by the fact that they wanted to beat their buddies."
Even when Snyder had weather concerns, the players wanted to practice.
"They'd get upset when I tried to cancel practice because of wind and rain," Snyder said smiling. "So I'd go ahead and make the tee times for them."
He said the players push each other to excel, especially Robbie and Jake.
"It's fitting that they finished with one stroke difference because that's how close they were all year," Snyder said.
Milford High took home the second-place trophy with 710 points. It was the first trophy for the school in golf.
"They're pretty dedicated bunch of kids," said Milford coach Bud Barnes. "They're playing all the time."
And that's not easy to do in a town with just one five-hole course.
"I've seen them dragging their clubs back and forth out there," said Milford's other coach Wayne Hardy. "It is actually a good place to practice and learn golf."
E-mail: adonaldson@desnews.com