This is so exciting that girls get the opportunity to compete at the high school level. – Karl Anderson, Richfield coach
ST. GEORGE — Twas a shotgun start at high-noon at Southgate Golf Club Tuesday.
Seven hours, 96 girls, and one hole-in-one later, Pinnacle Canyon's Mikayla Shaffer tapped in the final putt of the tournament on hole No. 9, and the long, hot, gusty afternoon of golf was over. But not before Richfield captured a well-deserved 1A/2A girls golf high school state championship with a total of 210 points using a modified point format adopted for the girls golf program. Close behind were Beaver with 201 points and St. Joseph at 200.
The modified point format awards points to individual players according to how each hole is scored in relation to par. For example, a bogey earns four points, a par earns five points and a birdie earns six.
Richfield's Carly Jorgensen, with an individual score of 78 strokes and a point total of 83, was medalist and first place in points, followed by South Summit's Ashley Stubbs (75 points) and St. Joseph's Greta Schneider (74 points.) Beaver's Celest Chavez scored 73 points and Bailey Thompson (Richfield) Alexandria Shinaut (St. Joseph) and Jessica Pyatt (Grand County) tied at 72 points. Rounding out the top ten performers were Marissa Louder (71 points) Grace Veghte (68 points) and Chanda Kreth (65 points.)
As a team, Rowland Hall was fourth (188) followed by South Summit (166) Layton Christian (135) Waterford (130) and Pinnacle Canyon (129.) The Layton Christian Academy boys team won the 1A boys state title earlier in the day.
A highlight of the girls tournament was a hole-in-one by Rich's Angelica Myer, the first ace recorded in Utah State High School girls golf competition. A small group of spectators watched as Myer's ball bounced in the shade in front of the 92-yard hole No. 3 and slightly broke to the right, rolling squarely into the front of the cup at a perfect speed. Myer, who had looked away after hitting the tee-shot, did not appear to see the ball drop, but seemed astonished as the crowd cheered louder and louder as the ball approached then disappeared into the hole. The eagle earned Myer seven points in the modified format.
Richfield's coach Karl Anderson, in addition to coaching the boys golf team, has coached the girls golf team the five years girls have been included in Utah high school golf.
"We started with only four girls," said Anderson. "We have 12 girls playing this year; only one is a senior. This is so exciting that girls get the opportunity to compete at the high school level."
Speaking of competing, Anderson said his leading player, Carly Jorgensen, deserved her first place finish today.
"She (Carly) has really worked hard on her game and has put the time in," he said.