High school girls golf: Richfield’s Becca Poulsen grabs 6-shot lead at 3A state tournament, Wildcats closing in on 4-peat

3A Leaderboard

Richfield’s golfers were dialed in during the first day of the 3A state girls golf tournament on Wednesday.

Richfield’s top four golfers all shot better than their season region averages as the Wildcats shot a 337 to build a 36-shot lead over Morgan heading into Thursday’s final day of competition at Oquirrh Park Golf Course in Tooele.

Baring a massive comeback from Morgan, the Wildcats are poised to win a fourth straight state title.

Becca Poulsen is also in line for a fourth straight medalist win from Richfield. Hayden Harris won medalist honors in 2018 and 2019, and then sister Piper Harris won medalist last year.

Poulsen is poised to join them after the senior shot a 6-over 78 on Wednesday, the only golfer to shoot in the 70s.

Poulsen ran into trouble on the 14^th with a triple bogey, but she recovered with birdies on No. 17 and 18 to build a six-stroke lead over teammate Gwen Stubbs.

Stubbs is tied with Judge Memorial’s Ava Isaac and Union’s Emily Keel in second after they all shot 84s.

Morgan’s Ellie DeMond, who had the top qualifying region stroke average with a 76, shot an 87 in the first round and will need to string some birdies together to fight back into contention on Thursday.

DeMond lost in a playoff to Piper Harris last year, while Poulsen finished in third just four shots back.

Class 3A state tournament

At Oquirrh Hills Golf Course

Team scores (Top 10 made cut)

1. Richfield, 337

2. Morgan, 363

3. Judge Memorial, 366

4. Juan Diego, 394

5. North Sanpete, 401

6. Union, 402

7. Carbon, 405

8. Grantsville, 408

9. South Summit, 435

10. Ogden, 438

Individual results

78 — Becca Poulsen, Richfield

84 — Gwen Stubbs, Richfield

84 — Ava Isaac, Judge Memorial

84 — Emily Keel, Union

85 — Shelby Gardner, Richfield

87 — Kia Christiansen, Morgan

87 — Ellie DeMond, Morgan

88 — Jailee Snow, Morgan

89 — Aspen Delis, Summit Academy

89 — Madison Munger, Grand,

90 — Grayson Gagnon, Juan Diego

90 — Hallie Janes, Richfield

90 — Lucy Callahan, Judge Memorial

93 — Savanna Rassmussen, Carbon

94 — Brooklyn Woods, Judge Memorial

95 — Eryn Briggs, North Sanpete

95 — Brielle Jolley, Richfield

96 — Cabria Walters, Juan Diego

97 — MaKenna Bohman, Grantsville