High school golf: Olympus ends Skyline’s 5A title streak at five, Bonneville’s OSU-bound Parker Bunn wins medalist honors in playoff
Olympus golf coach Matt Barnes, who moonlights as the Titans’ highly successful basketball coach, has seen a lot in his 27 years at the Holladay school.
And prep sports never ceases to amaze the likable mentor to hundreds of athletes and students alike.
“Pretty lucky, yeah, very lucky. It was a horrible tee shot and it worked out OK. Then I hit another horrible shot, missed the green. But I bounced back from it.” — Bonneville’s Parker Bunn, 5A state golf medalist.
Take what happened at Fox Hollow Golf Course in Utah County on Tuesday, for instance.
The Titans rose up and snapped rival Skyline’s five-year stranglehold on the 5A golf title, running away from the field for a 17-shot win over runner-up East, 579-596. The Eagles placed sixth with a 614.
“Golf is crazy,” Barnes said. “I’ve done this for a lot of years and it never gets old. It’s just awesome.”
Bonneville senior Parker Bunn, who has signed to golf for national powerhouse Oklahoma State next fall, won medalist honors by defeating Olympus sophomore Will Pedersen with a birdie on the first playoff hole, the par-5 ninth at Fox Hollow.
Bunn got a tremendous break when his tee shot hit a rock in a hazard and bounced into the fairway. He missed the green with his second shot, while Pedersen was safely on in two.
However, Bunn got up and down for a birdie 4, and when Pedersen’s 5-footer for birdie slid past the hole, the much-decorated Bunn had his individual state championship to accompany him to Stillwater, Oklahoma, next year.
Apparently, Cowboys coach Alan Bratton had (jokingly) told him to not head east without one.
“Pretty lucky, yeah, very lucky,” was Bunn’s summation of the playoff. “It was a horrible tee shot and it worked out OK. Then I hit another horrible shot, missed the green. But I bounced back from it.”
Playing several groups ahead of Pedersen because his Bonneville team didn’t qualify to play the second round, Bunn birdied the 18th hole to get to 7-under and grab the clubhouse lead. East High’s Sean Lampropolous, the Salt Lake City Amateur champion, lipped out his birdie putt on No. 18 that would have gotten him into the playoff.
As he walked onto the 18th green after hitting a flop wedge over a tree to within 4 feet of the hole, Bunn’s mother, Jenni, told him that it was going to be the last putt he would ever attempt as a high school golfer and to make the most of it.
“She was wrong, yeah, because of the playoff, but she was kinda right (about needing to make it),” Bunn said. “It is just nice to end my high school career with a win.”
Pedersen didn’t go easily. The gritty 10th grader made birdies on holes 16 and 18 to force the playoff, making a clutch 10-footer on 18 in front of more than 100 onlookers after an approach that was eerily similar to Bunn’s about an hour earlier.
“To see Will birdie 16 and 18 to force a tie was awesome,” Barnes said. “Then that just happened to him in the playoff. My heart breaks for Will on the individual side; he will hurt individually, but he will be really excited for the accomplishment of the team.”
Olympus sophomore Austin Shelley, whose brothers played for or are playing for Skyline, posted a 2-under 142 to take fourth. Junior Sterling Peterson (153) and seniors Hank Holt (154) and Will Olson (154) also finished in the top 25. Sophomore Mark Ivory was at 14-over and tied for 34th.
The Titans’ first and only state golf title before Tuesday came in 2016.
“What a year for my kids,” Barnes said. “They had big expectations coming in (because) we were close last year, second last year. I am just proud of them. They did a great job as a team. Everyone had to contribute throughout the year.”
After East’s golfers accepted the second-place trophy, Leopards coach John Evans gathered his team and told them to remember the feeling as Olympus celebrated with the first-place trophy and use it as fuel for next year.
Sophomores Rocco Humphrey (T14), Henry Hardy (T17) and Henry Evans (T38) are among the top players who will be back, along with the uber-talented Lampropolous.
“We are looking to come back strong next year,” Evans said. “We return a lot of guys who are underclassmen. We have five really good sophomores returning, one really good junior returning. We will be coming back next year strong.”
The Leopards will miss senior Will Theurer, who Evans said has been a four-year varsity player and “a fantastic role model for these younger guys.”
5A State Tournament
At Fox Hollow Golf Course (par 72)
Final team scores
Olympus, 579
East, 596
Timpview, 605
Viewmont, 607
Brighton, 613
Skyline, 614
Spanish Fork, 615
Box Elder, 624
Individual results (Top 20)
137 — Parker Bunn, Sr., Bonneville — won in a playoff
137 — Will Pedersen, So., Olympus
138 — Sean Lampropoulos, Jr., East
142 — Austin Shelley, So., Olympus
143 — Jared McCleary, Jr., Hunter
145 — Ben Clayson, Jr., Spanish Fork
145 — Jackson Shelley, Jr., Skyline
145 — Mo Lecheminant, So., Timpview
146 — Nathan Riedel, Sr., Brighton
146 — Kanyon DeRyke, So., Box Elder
148 — Luke Gardner, Sr., Viewmont
148 — James Gardner, Jr., Viewmont
148 — Calvin Lillywhite, So., Timpview
150 — Rocco Humphrey, So., East
150 — Cooper Nelson, Sr., Salem Hills
150 — Jake DeBry, Jr., Skyline
153 — Luke Alder, Jr., Brighton
153 — Henry Hardy, So., East
153 — Graham Winzeler, Jr., Wasatch
153 — Sterling Peterson, Jr., Olympus
154 — Corver Barnes, So., Viewmont
154 — Hank Holt, Sr., Olympus
154 — Will Olson, Sr., Olympus
154 — Owen Brown, Sr., Northridge
154 — Ty Cottle, So., Bountiful
