MIDWAY — George Murphy took over as Park City's boys golf coach in 2007, and every year since the Miners have taken home the first-place state trophy. Talk about a dynasty.
Thursday at Soldier Hollow Golf Course, Park City took home yet another 3A boys golf state championship trophy thanks in large part to senior Mitchell Schow, who captured medalist honors for the third-straight year.
However, even after winning their eighth-straight championship, the Miners are already looking forward to next year.
“Let’s get started for next year,” Murphy yelled to his team with a smile. “Practice starts tomorrow.”
While he may have been joking, Murphy says there is some truth to what he said, which may explain why the Miners have been so dominant the last eight years.
According to Murphy, in 2006 when he was an assistant coach for Park City, the Miners took second place in state, losing by a very small margin.
“It was painful,” he explained. “There was a commitment from the whole team (that year) that we were going to practice because we just didn’t want that to happen again.”
In 2007, the Miners worked hard, won the state tournament and have never looked back.
“That was kind of what started it,” Murphy said.
On Thursday, Schow capped his own illustrious high school career by winning medalist honors for the third year in a row.
“I’m feeling great,” Schow said. “Its kind of sad that it's my last year”
On the gold course at Soldier Hollow, Schow shot a 6-under-par 66 on Day 2 to shoot a two-day total of 131. Schow had six birdies going into 17, where he bogeyed the hole, similar to Day 1. However, the senior from Park City was clutch, like Wednesday, as he finished with a birdie on No. 18.
Schow attributes much of his success and motivation to his family, especially his dad. Schow’s father, who is also a golfer, has been a big motivation for him as his dad has struggled with cancer but has recently recovered.
“After all he’s been through it has really taught a lot to me,” Schow explained. “He’s played the biggest role in my life. He’s the biggest role model to me.”
The senior ended the tournament one higher than his initial goal of 130. While shooting one higher than his goal didn’t affect the end result, he says it may cause a little grief from his good friend Connor Howe, who shot a 130 two-day total in the 5A tournament earlier in the week.
“I’m going to get some crap from Howe. He beat me by one shot so I’ll have to deal with that,” Schow said.
Besides Schow, the Miners received contributions from senior Drew Fleming, who also medaled by tying for fifth place, and juniors Cole Lee and Josh Lansky. The Miners also brought two underclassmen, sophomore Jack Hanskat and freshman Dean Tsandes, to the tournament. Each Park City player finished in the top 20 individually.
Behind Park City’s 571 two-day total came Tooele, which shot 591. The Buffaloes were led by Jerzee Houston and Braxton Quin, who placed fourth and tied for fifth, respectively.
Triston Gardener and Noah Schone took second and third in the individual portion, respectively.
Team scores
1. Park City, 571. 2. Tooele, 591. 3. Snow Canyon, 604. 4. Pine View, 609. 5. Carbon, 618. 6. Union, 630. 7. Dixie, 631. 8. Stansbury, 639. 9. Juan Diego, 645. 10. Morgan, 648.
Individual scores
131 – Mitchell Schow, Park City
136 – Triston Gardner, Snow Canyon
137 – Noah Schone, Pine View
138 – Jerzee Houston, Tooele
142 – Drew Fleming, Park City; Braxton Quin, Tooele
143 – Kosuke Aoki, Dixie
145 – Ryker Smith, Carbon; Austin Jaramillo, Union; Triston Hartfiel, Bear River
147 – Blake Amick, Desert Hills
149 – Josh Lansky, Park City; Brodey Payzant, Snow Canyon; Brady White, Juab
150 – Cole Lee, Park City; Jaylon Steck, Richfield
151 – Dean Tsandes, Park City; Jack Hanskat, Park City; Matthew Milburne, Morgan
152 – Colton Stratton, Juan Diego