Lone Peak won its fourth straight 6A state girls golf championship, this one by a whopping 76 shots, on Tuesday at Meadow Brook Golf Course in Taylorsville, a feat that normally would be called the most notable accomplishment of the day.
That is until one considers what Lone Peak junior Saydie Wagner did in dethroning teammate and two-time defending medalist Aadyn Long for the individual title.
Wagner fired a 2-under 70 in Monday’s first round to sleep on the overnight lead, then started Tuesday’s round as if she hadn’t woken up. She made bogeys on four of her first six holes, and the lead was gone.
Then she got a little pep talk from coach Derek Farr, and it was as if she turned into Nelly Korda.
Wagner birdied No. 7, got up and down for par on No. 8 and eagled No. 9. But she wasn’t finished at the turn. She proceeded to birdie four of her next five holes, completing that eight-hole stretch from No. 7 to No. 14 at seven-under, and rolled to medalist honors with a two-day total of 6-under 138.
Long, the 2023 and 2024 champion, finished second at 3-under, completing a spectacular high school career with two firsts and two seconds. She has signed to play for BYU this fall.
Lone Peak sophomore Mikaila Lieu and Weber senior Remi Rawlings tied for third at even-par, while Lone Peak senior Adley Nelson placed fifth at +3.
In the team race, Lone Peak cruised to the four-peat with a -6 team score (lowest four scores each day count), while Bingham claimed second place at +70, followed by Corner Canyon (+89), Farmington (+107) and Herriman (+110).
But this day belonged to Wagner, who was third last year at Soldier Hollow, finishing seven shots behind Long and two behind Nelson.
“Omigosh, I was so stressed out,” Wagner said after tapping in for birdie on No. 18 for a 68 on the day. “I was so stressed out. I don’t even know (how I did it). I was just thinking about my team and getting to hug everyone after, and seeing how everyone else did. But it was just really fun to win as a team, and win individually.”
Wagner said the four bogeys came because she was struggling with her approach shots and not making putts. Then came the little chat with her coach.
“Farr came over and was like, ‘you need to get your (act) together. This is not what you are supposed to do,’” Wagner remembered.
Farr’s response: “I will plead the fifth on that. … I (probably) did say that, because she is one you can be pretty honest and blunt with, and she did what she needed to do.”
Wagner said she was able to turn her anger into positive energy, and then her putter started getting hot.
“If you have a good mindset, it helps throughout your round,” she said. “That kinda helped me turn it around. … It was mostly my putter. I was hitting good shots in, and then I was making everything.”
She did catch a break when a wayward tee shot ricocheted off a large tree and into the fairway on No. 15.
Freshman Morgan Thomas added a non-counting +7 to Lone Peak’s effort. The Knights will lose Long and Nelson to graduation, but will again be the team to beat next year with two of their top four and four of their top eight players returning.
As for Long, she acknowledged that in most years a -3 score would probably win the event, and she was pleased with how she birdied the final two holes of her prep career and put a little pressure on her teammate and friend down the stretch.
“I feel like today was a good day. I just wanted to enjoy every moment, because it was my last one,” she said. “I played good golf today, but Saydie just played better. I am happy for her and I am just so proud of her. And it is good for our team. We played well as a team.”
Farr joked that the Knights were going to celebrate by going to Disneyland, while Wagner suggested a trip to Pizzeria Limone for a dinner celebration. Whatever the case, Lone Peak is getting used to these, and that weird ritual of putting dots around their eyes before state tournaments.
“Just a tradition we’ve done since my freshman year,” Long said.
A tradition that happens to pair well with winning.
6A girls golf championship
At Meadow Brook Golf Course
Team scores
1. Lone Peak 289-281—570
2. Bingham 321-325—646
3. Corner Canyon 330-335—665
4. Farmington 348-335—683
5. Herriman 346-340—686
6. Syracuse 349-339—688
7. Fremont 348-347-695
8. Mountain Ridge 355-353—708
9. Copper Hills 357-353—710
10. Skyridge 366-347—713
Individual results
1. Saydie Wagner, Lone Peak 70-68—138
2. Aadyn Long, Lone Peak 72-69—141
T3. Mikaila Lieu, Lone Peak 72-72—144; Remi Rawlings, Weber 72-72—144
5. Adley Nelson, Lone Peak 75-72—147
6. Susan Tiffner, Fremont 74-75—149
7. Natalie McLane, Herriman 73-78—151
T8. Kylee Cosper, Syracuse 74-78—152; Ashlyn Cline, Corner Canyon 75-77—152.
T10. Aspen Taylor, Farmington 76-79—155; Taylor Weingarten, Copper Hills 75-80—155.
T12. Stratton Durrant, Bingham 73-84—157; Addison Cannon, Layton 82-75—157.
14. Morgan Thomas, Lone Peak 79-79—158.
15. Chloe Suazo, Bingham 83-76—159.
16. Megan Matsuura, Corner Canyon 80-81—161.
17. Ellie Anderson, Riverton 79-83—162.
T18. Hallie Sant, Herriman 84-79—163; Kai Post, Syracuse 83-80—163; Joy Greer, Lone Peak 85-78—163; Tacee Hess, Lehi 80-83—163.