High school boys golf: Morgan overcomes miserable weather, reclaims 3A golf state championship
The conditions were far from ideal at the 3A golf state tournament this week, with rain and wind for long stretches both days making for miserable playing conditions.
It’s not what anybody wanted, but nobody navigated the conditions at MeadowBrook Golf Course better than the Morgan Trojans, and they have another state championship trophy to show for it.
Morgan held a narrow four-stroke lead after Wednesday’s opening round, but weren’t fazed by Thursday’s rain and extended the lead to 15 strokes by the end of the tournament to capture their fifth 3A state title in the past six years. The Trojans finished with a 591 team score, with Union in second with a 606 and defending state champion Richfield in third with a 608.
“There’s more than a handful of teams that could’ve won this. The quality of play, not only in our region but in the whole 3A class, is so much better than it has been. We knew coming in we had to play our best to win, and with the conditions we played in to be able to shoot under our average says a lot about how focused they were,” said Morgan coach Dennis Peterson.
Morgan junior Lance Loughton, the 3A medalist, echoed that sentiment.
“It was tough out there. The weather was rough. It was windy, rainy, but shout out to the superintendent for making the greens really good and the greens in good shape. You just kind of have to be patient, take your time, keep all your stuff dry and really just focus on your shot,” said Loughton.
Nobody navigated the conditions better than Loughton, as he shot a 6-under 138 over the two days to win comfortably by five strokes.
He ran into a bit of trouble early in his round on Thursday, bogeying three of his first seven holes and sitting at 2-over for his round and only leading by one stroke. Over the final 11 holes though, he regrouped with four birdies and just one bogey.
“I’m confident in my game so I felt like I could easily turn it around and knew there were some really scoreable holes coming up,” said Loughton.
He birdied holes 11, 12 and 16 to finish with a 71 on Thursday after shooting a 67 on Wednesday.
Ogden’s Jesse Jones and Morgan’s Zaylin McCleary were the only other golfers to finish under par during the 3A state tournament as each shot a 1-under 143, with Richfield’s Dylan Stubbs finishing fourth with an even-par 144.
While Loughton and McClearly both posted higher scores on Thursday, Morgan’s two other scoring golfers combined to shoot 11 strokes better in the second round and were catalysts to the Trojans pulling away for the win.
Freshman Caleb Rees, who had never played tournament golf until this high school golf season, shot a 74 in Round 2 after a 77 in Round 1. Junior Daxon Loertscher made an even bigger jump going from an 86 to a 78.
Much of the improvement came on the back 9. As a team, Morgan shot 13-over on the Front 9 but 5-under on the back line.
Peterson wasn’t surprised his golfers were clutch down the stretch, because they’ve been motivated all season after they stretch of four straight state championships was halted by Richfield last year.
“We were really motived and hyped. We knew coming in we were the best team and we just wanted to show everyone we were. We were really confident and I think that was the biggest reason we won,” said Loughton.
3A State Tournament
At MeadowBrook Golf Course (par 72)
Final team scores
1. Morgan, 591
2. Union, 606
3. Richfield, 608
4. Carbon, 613
5. Juab, 615
5. Ogden, 615
7. Delta, 629
8. Emery, 646
Individual results (Top 20)
138 — Lance Loughton Jr., Morgan
143 — Jesse Jones Soph., Ogden
143 — Zaylin McCleary Sr., Morgan
144 — Dylan Stubbs Sr., Richfield
146 — Pace Mullen Jr., Richfield
147 — Cayson VanBeekum Jr., Ben Lomond
148 — Kauner Kay Sr., Juab
148 — Corbin Hall Sr., Ogden
148 — Rydge Butler Jr., Carbon
149 — Brooks Burgess Sr., Union
149 — Cayson Duffin Fr., Summit Academy
149 — Dayton King Soph., Carbon
150 — Caden Meinhardt Jr., Delta
151 — Taylor Hardin, So., Canyon View
151 — Caleb Rees Fr., Morgan
152 — Cam Frandsen Sr., Union
153 — Brennan Mecham Soph., Union
153 — Crue Cowan Fr., Juab
154 — Kyler Davies Soph., Delta
154 — Luke Wallace Sr., Manti
