Carson Reynolds picked the optimum time to post a career-low round.

The Waterford senior shot a 6-under 66 in the opening round of the 2A state tournament on Wednesday, and then backed it up with another number in the red on Thursday at Mountain View Golf Course in West Jordan to capture the state title that narrowly eluded him the year prior.

“I honestly practice pretty much every single day, working on putting mainly cause I think putting kind of let me down last year, so coming into this year’s state (tournament) I think I putted phenomenally better,” said Reynolds.

That putting stroke allowed him to easily distance himself from the rest of the 2A field, finishing with a seven-stroke advantage of runner-up Sky Moon from Beaver.

He did much of his damage during a three-hole stretch in the first round going birdie, eagle, birdie on No. 9, 10 and 11. That gave him a cushion that nobody could catch.

Reynolds admits feeling the pressure of the four-stroke lead heading into Thursday’s final round, but after a rough front nine he settled down to shoot a 1-under 71, finishing the tournament with a 7-under, 137.

Waterford’s Carson Reynolds lines up a shot at the 2A state golf tournament at Mountain View Golf Course in West Jordan on Thursday, Oct. 6. | Provided by Kory Carpenter

“It takes a lot of pressure off my shoulders,” said Reynolds, who said playing UJGA golf throughout the summer really helped prepare for the state tournament format.

Reynolds’ victory snapped a streak of three straight years of Beaver individual medalists. As for the team trophy, the Beaver dynasty marches on.

Beaver shot a two-day 600 to roll past the 2A field once again, finishing 36 strokes ahead of runner-up Rowland Hall for its sixth straight state championship.

Beaver is now tied for third in the state record book for consecutive state championships with Highland (1965-1970) and Waterford (1999-2004). Richfield won seven straight from 1977 to 1983, and Park City holds the state record with 11 straight championships from 2008 to 2018.

With the growing interest in golf in Beaver — which included 80 golfers in the Beaver junior golf program this summer — the dynasty doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.

What’s exciting for Beaver coach Jason Pollard is that many of the 2A golf programs are getting better as well.

“The great thing is 2A golf has now three teams in the 320 average, so when you have that it makes a little more competition and gives you a little more motivation to push hard, and we did. We practiced hard expecting this state championship to be a little harder than those in the past,” said Pollard.

Beaver High School’s boys golf team won its sixth straight state championship at this week’s 2A state golf tournament at Mountain View Golf Course in West Jordan. | James Edward

Of Beaver’s six state titles, Pollard said this was the most anxiety he felt arriving at the golf course for the second round. In Beaver’s previous five titles, its Day 1 lead was 15, 36, 62, 39 and 27 strokes. On Thursday, it was a miniscule seven strokes ahead of Rowland Hall.

Led by Sky Moon, Hoyt Blomquist and Dallas Yardley, who all shot in the 70s and equaled or improved their opening-round scores, Beaver’s final margin of victory swelled to 36 strokes after the final round. It was the closest the team competition has been since 2017 when Beaver won by 26 strokes.

Moon, who was last year’s 2A medalist, finished runner-up this year with back-to-back 72s to shoot 144. Blomquist tied for third with Rowland Hall’s Matt Siegal with 145, with Draper APA’s Easton Toone wrapping up the top five with a 149.

Heading into the season Pollard had some concerns about his golfers No. 5 through 8, but collectively they all made improvements, and it showed at state as the Beavers’ team score was 32 strokes better than a year ago.

Beaver’s fourth scoring golfer, Ashton Bartlett, finished tied for 13th with a 158.


2A state tournament results

View Comments

Expanded leaderboard

Team scores

At Mountain View Golf Course

  1. Beaver, 600
  2. Rowland Hall, 636
  3. South Sevier, 646
  4. Millard, 654
  5. Waterford, 659
  6. St. Joseph, 673
  7. Kanab, 676
  8. North Summit, 686

Individual results

  • 137 — Carson Reynolds, Waterford
  • 144 — Sky Moon, Beaver
  • 145 — Hoyt Blomquist, Beaver
  • 145 — Matt Siegal, Rowland Hall
  • 149 — Easton Toone, Draper APA
  • 153 — Dallas Yardley, Beaver
  • 155 — Jex Jones, Enterprise
  • 157 — Gavin Wolf, St. Joseph
  • 157 — Kale Glover, Kanab
  • 157 — Kelton Ferriter, Rowland Hall
  • 157 — Konner Hunt, South Sevier
  • 157 — Braxton Stubbs, South Sevier
  • 158 — Hunter Rhodes, Millard
  • 158 — Ashton Bartlett, Beaver
  • 159 — Bradley Woolstenhulme, North Summit
  • 162 — Maddix Baird, Kanab
  • 162 — Rhett Woolstenhulme, North Summit
  • 162 — Cannon Thornock, South Sevier
  • 163 — Mace Robinson, Beaver
  • 164 — Derk Memmott, Millard
  • 164 — Rexton Hollingshead, Beaver
  • 164 — Keaton Hallows, North Sevier
Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.