A year after winning the 2A girls golf state championship by a razor-thin four strokes, the Rowland Hall Winged Lions left their peers in the dust on Tuesday.
Rowland Hall shot a 357 at Mountain View Golf Course in West Jordan to finish comfortably ahead of runner-up Waterford, which shot a 390.
Beaver finished third with a 401.
The formula for success was pretty straightforward for Rowland Hall — everyone play better.
Of the five Rowland Hall golfers who competed at state the past two years, all five shot better at Mountain View on Tuesday than they did at Rose Park a year ago.
“They worked their butts off for the last month. We were at practice four days a week on our own as a team, and Arden (Louchheim) was playing tournaments on the weekend and the girls were playing rounds on the weekend,” said Rowland Hall coach Brianna Coopman.
The average stroke improvement of those five Rowland Hall golfers from one state tourney to the next was 9.4 strokes.
It started at the top with Rowland Hall junior Louchheim, who ran away with medalist honors by 10 strokes for the second straight season after sooting a career-round of 67.
During her 5-under round she made seven birdies — including all four par-5s — and enjoyed tap-in putts most of the day.
“That was a big goal for me, and obviously in these high school tournaments these par-5s play pretty short. If I have a long iron or midiron in for my second shot I always want to take advantage,” said Louchheim, who shot a 72 to win 2A medalist last year.
She burned the edges on three eagle putts from inside 20 feet, otherwise the Mountain View golf pro might’ve had to start looking up the course record book.
“In golf you can always walk off and say I left a stroke out there, but I’m really happy with how the day went,” said Louchheim.
Her teammate Jasmine Le finished runner-up for the second straight season after a five-stroke improvement from last year with a 77.
Beaver’s Tawni Eyre shot an 89 to finish third, while Waterford’s Evelyn Azares was fourth with a 91 and North Summit’s Sadie Batt fifth with a 92.
The top 10 golfers at the 2A girls golf state tournament at Mountain View Golf Course in West Jordan pose with their medals after Tuesday’s tournament.
James Edward
Rowland Hall’s third golfer, Katerina Gianoulis, shot a 102 to finish just outside the top 10 in 11th place. Last year she finished 40th with a 122.
“She was our most improved golfer this year. She worked her butt off,” said Coopman.
Allison Mayetami shot a 111 compared to a 118 last year and Anna Rodriguez shot a 114 compared to 124 a year ago.
The entire Rowland Hall team has benefitted by seeing the work ethic that Louchheim puts in on the course.
Rowland Hall assistant coach Howard Schindler said Louchheim’s focus on the golf course on Tuesday was nearly flawless.
“Her ability to plot out a golf course is what sets her above the rest. She can see a golf course a lot differently than most. She knows exactly where to play the ball in the fairway, exactly where to put the ball on the green to make a putt,” said Schindler. “She constantly sets goals for herself throughout the round.”
Louchheim’s consistency all season has been the result of going all-in on golf in hopes of earning a scholarship to golf at the Division I level.
Prior to this past winter, she split her time as a competitive downhill ski racer for the Rowmark Ski Academy.
With more time for golf this past winter Louchheim spent hours trying to improve her length and accuracy off the tee. Her success on the par-5s on Tuesday was evidence of that hard work, and going forward this summer at tournaments in both Utah and out of state she hopes it leads to more rounds in the 60s and more college coaches taking notice.
“My biggest part of my game that I’ve been working on the past seven months or so is my driver, and today I really felt like it came together and I was able to swing freely and have it go wherever I wanted,” she said.
Class 2A state tournament
At Mountain View Golf Course
Team scores
1. Rowland Hall, 357.
2. Waterford, 390.
3. Beaver, 401.
4. Millard, 415.
5. North Summit, 458.
6. Gunnison Valley, 467.
6. South Sevier, 467.
8. St. Joseph, 496.
9. North Sevier, 524.
Individual results
67 — Arden Louchheim, Rowland Hall.
77 — Jasmine Le, Rowland Hall.
89 — Tawni Eyre, Beaver.
91 — Evelyn Azares, Waterford.
92 — Sadie Batt, North Summit.
96 — Samantha Cassell, Waterford.
96 — Heidi Harris, Beaver.
100 — Lindsay Starley, Millard.
101 — Kaylee Kim, Waterford.
101 — Paige Cummings, Millard.
102 — Lexi Peterson, Waterford.
102 — Katerina Gianoulis, Rowland Hall.
104 — Austyn Bennett, Millard.
106 — Katie Ferry, North Summit.
106 — Mia Harris, Beaver.
107 — Soraya Leatherwood, Gunnison Valley.
110 — Breylan Okerlun, South Sevier.
110 — Annie McNeill, Beaver.
110 — Avery Brown, Beaver.
110 — Carlie Derden, Millard.