Monthly Archives: May 2024

This season, Rich coach Kam Jarman said his players have practiced in every difficult condition imaginable — rain, snow, hail and wind.

Each of those practices strengthened the resolve of his players, something Jarman said made a big difference during the 1A state tournament this week.

Sitting in second place after Tuesday’s first round, Rich improved by four strokes in the second round on Wednesday as it slowly pulled away to capture its first 1A state championship since 2014.

The Rebels finished with a two-day total of 706, with Wayne in second with a 720 and Valley in third with a 725.

“The weather has just been poor up in Bear Lake. The kids have just battled the weather. I’m just proud of them ‘cause they’ve worked so dang hard,” said Jarman.

Rich had two players finish in the top 10, which was obviously important. Just as important, however, was how Rich’s No. 4 and No. 5 golfers alternated good rounds and poor rounds, which meant the Rebels never had to count a score over 100.

“It’s just the whole team working together. I’m just so happy for them and their hard work,” said Jarman.

Rich’s Noah Parry finished second with a two-day 165, while teammate Jaden Desch tied for seventh with a 172.

Medalist honors went to Wendover senior Trejin Tangaro, who shot an 81 on both days to finish with a 162 and a three-stroke advantage over Parry.

Driver was key for Tangaro, who said he was consistently in the fairway in the second round.

“My driver was always straight and in the fairway. That was probably the best part of my game today. It kept me out of a lot of trouble,” said Tangaro.

He caught a break early in his round on No. 4 as his approach shot hit the flag stick on the fly and dropped down close to the hole, and he made par.

Without the favorable bounce, Tangaro would’ve gone well past the green and been in danger of double-bogeying.

“It was a good thing he hit the flag,” said Tangaro.

A year ago Tangaro finished tied for third at state, and it gave him the confidence that he could get over the hump as a senior.

“When I saw last year how good I did against the 2024 class I knew had a shot so I came into this year knowing I’m not going to let anybody else outwork me. I’m going to do the most I can to win,” said Tangaro.

Behind Tangaro in first and Parry in second, Valley’s Ivan Spencer and Piute’s Swade Olsen tied for third with 167s, followed by Monticello’s Traken Lee in fifth with a 169.

Written by Deseret News sportswriter, James Edward. Posted with permission. Please visit Desert News Sports online, click here.

The Utah town with no golf course is now home to a state championship girls golf team.

Manila High captured the 1A state championship at Lakeside Golf Course in Bountiful on Wednesday as it shot a 392 to edge Monticello by 16 strokes for its first state title in school history.

The Mustangs placed four golfers in the top 10, including medalist Abby Schofield, who won it as a sophomore and finished second a year ago.

But the team title is what Schofield was most pleased with on Wednesday.

“I’m gonna be honest, the team title means the most to me just because all my friends, the support I’ve had through them has been amazing. If I didn’t have them I couldn’t do it, and I really have to thank all my junior friends because they really helped me through the season just keeping me positive and never let me down,” said Schofield.

Without a golf course nearby, Manila’s golfers practice mostly on a golf simulator unless they drive the hour and a half to a nearest golf course in Green River, Wyoming or Vernal.

Schofield said the simulator is good driver and longer irons, but nothing replicates the touch around the green like a real course.

Manila did it better than anyone else on Wednesday. Last year’s state champ Monticello finished runner-up with a 408, while Valley finished third with a 417.

Manila coach Jay Schofield had a hunch his team would be in the hunt for the title if Schofield shot in the low 80s and all of his other golfers broke 110. He also reminded them to have fun.

Manila junior Kallie Bair shot a 101 to finish tied for fifth, while junior Sadie Davis and sophomore Janie Christensen tied for eighth. The other two golfers whose scores didn’t count toward the team title both shot right around where their coach hoped they’d be, with Reagan Brown shooting a 107 and Kate Bambrough a 112.

“The six girls, the time, the dedication, they work hard every single day,” said Schofield.

He added that his daughter in particular was extra motivated this year after finishing second at state last season, two strokes behind the leader.

“She put in the time and effort to make sure that she was going to be competitive. It’s really on her, all the time she put into it,” said coach Schofield.

Abby Schofield made the most of the par 5s on Wednesday as she made two birdies and an eagle to finish with an 83. She drained a long putt for eagle on No. 6 after a great approach shot.

Monticello’s Elise Lewis finished runner up with a 94, while teammate Cambree Chamberlain finished third with a 97. Valley’s Rachel Cox was the other golfer to break 100 as she shot a 99 for fourth place.

Tournament recap written by Deseret News sportswriter, James Edward. Posted with permission. Click here for Deseret News Sports online.

Waterford’s Evelyn Azares knew she’d hit a great approach shot, but even she was stunned when she walked onto the No. 18 green at Glendale Golf Course and saw that she only had a four-foot putt for birdie.

In that moment, Azares wasn’t even thinking about winning, but rather she had a shot to make birdie on her final high school hole in a career that included a 131 her freshman year.

“I hit that shot, and I knew I could not have made it go any better than that. Stepping onto the green and seeing how close that shot was, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, if I make this putt and end with a birdie, that would be amazing.’ I wasn’t even thinking about winning,” said Azares.

Tied with American Heritage’s Bethany Braddy heading into that final hole of the 2A state tournament on Tuesday, Azares rolled the birdie putt straight into the heart of the cup to capture 2A medalist honors and put the finishing touches on a remarkable career of perseverance.

“I came from shooting a 131, so now that I’m winning this it sums up all the hard work. This is so surreal for me,” said Azares, who finished fourth at state as a junior.

Azares shot a 42 on the front nine at Glendale but then settled down with a 39 on the back nine to shoot a nine-over 81.

Braddy shot an 11-over 83 to finish in second place, with Beaver’s Heidi Harris and Millard’s Lindsay Starley tying for third with 85s.

For Harris, her 85 was a season-best round, according to coach Chanda Gardner, and was one of the catalysts to Beaver’s repeat state championship.

Beaver’s depth allowed it to shoot a team score of 371, a 10-stroke improvement upon last year, when it narrowly beat Rowland Hall 381 to 383.

This year’s team title was nearly as tight, as it wasn’t until the final groups started to come in that Beaver narrowly pulled away from second-year program American Heritage, which made a 56-stroke improvement from a year ago to finish second with a 379.

Read the complete tournament recap by Desert News sportswriter James Edward, Click Here.

Heading into the second and final day of the girls 4A state golf tournament at Talons Cove Golf Club, Crimson Cliffs and Green Canyon appeared ready to battle it out for the team title.

The Cedar Reds apparently didn’t get the memo.

Overcoming a 13-stroke deficit, Cedar played what coach Laycee Johnson called “elite level golf” on Thursday in wet, blustery conditions and won the first girls golf state championship in school history.

Cedar came in at 106-over 682, while Green Canyon placed second at 110-over 686; Crimson Cliffs, which led after the first day, took third at 111-over 687.

Cedar, of course, is one of the oldest high schools in the state; Crimson Cliffs, from the St. George area, and Green Canyon, near Logan, are two of the newest.

Crimson Cliffs, one of Cedar’s Region 9 rivals, didn’t go home empty handed, however, after having a six-shot lead when Thursday began.

Crimson Cliffs sophomore Kate Walker repeated as 4A medalist, firing a closing-round 77 Thursday after Wednesday’s sparkling 65 had given her a commanding lead in the individual championship.

“It took so much hard work and time and dedication to accomplish my goal,” Walker said. “Every year, that is my goal — to win state, because I know that I can.”

Conditions were considerably more difficult Thursday, with wind, rain and even hail battering the golfers at the course in Saratoga Springs on the west shores of Utah Lake.

“The first day my goal was to go low, and I did,” said Walker, who is also an accomplished swimmer, having placed fourth in the 100 butterfly at the 4A state swim meet.

“The second day, keeping the lead was my goal, and I did that. It didn’t go as planned, but it was good.”

Last year, Walker won the solo title with a 9-over 151 at Logan River Golf Course in another dominating performance, so the goal now, she said, is to collect two more gold medals before she moves on to college golf.

“I definitely think it is possible,” she said.

That 7-under 65 is going to draw the attention of more college coaches, who can begin contacting her on June 15, per NCAA rules. She said she wants to commit relatively early and just focus on improving her already stellar game.

“BYU would be awesome,” she said.

Walker calls herself “self-motivated” and “driven” and noted that St. George-area pros Reed McArthur and Doug Roberts have helped her a lot with her game, along with her father, Jason Walker, whom she claims she can “beat pretty easily.”

Orem’s Kaylee Westfall placed second at 9-over 153, while Pine View’s Alyssa Butterfus was third at +11.

Pine View dropped to seventh in the team race after having won the last three 4A state team titles.

For Cedar, which won its first region championship last week, it was the culmination of a lot of hard work that began years ago, its coach said.

“These girls set high goals this year and they did everything I asked them to do,” said Johnson. “Our team motto was ‘be elite,’ and that was to be positive, believe and be confident in every swing, and that is exactly what those girls did today.”

Cedar’s top finisher was Taylyn Wilson, who came in fifth at 18-over 162. RaeLee Johnson, the coach’s daughter, tied for seventh, while Breelle Evans was 12th, Denym John was 29th and Rachel Blodgett was 52nd.

“They are the best of friends. They cheered everybody on. If you wanted a dream team to coach, that was those girls,” Johnson said. “They are amazing. They are great in school, academically. They are the nicest girls you will ever meet.”

And now they are state champions.

Story by Deseret News sportswriter, Jay Drew. Republished with permission.

Richfield High School is proud of its golf legacy, and its girls team added more hardware to the trophy case.

The Wildcats dominated the 3A state tournament at Meadow Brook Golf Course this week, placing five individual golfers in the top 10 and finishing 30 strokes clear of runner-up Juan Diego as they claimed the seventh state title in school history.

Along with the 15 titles for the boys program, Richfield is the winningest golf program in the entire state.

“Richfield High School is Utah’s winningest golf high school,” said Richfield girls coach Troy Jones. “There’s been a tradition for a long time. There’s a legacy at that golf course in that town of championship golfers.”

For Richfield’s Hallie Janes, Abbee Albrecht, Brielle Jolley and Mya Malcolm, Thursday’s state title was their second in 2024 as they were all part of Richfield’s girls basketball state championship team.

While Richfield placed five golfers in the top 10, medalist honors went to Juan Diego’s Grayson Gagnon.

With a one-stroke lead heading into the final hole, the senior made par with a tap-in putt to win the 3A individual with a two-day score of 159.

Richfield’s Hallie Janes and Shelby Gardner finished tied, just one stroke back at 160.

For Gagnon, she had no idea her par putt clinched the win until a few seconds after and her coaches started hollering and congratulating her. It culminated a positive approach throughout the day — when things could’ve gotten away from her on the front nine.

“Two days ago I had a lesson from my coach, and he just said keep your head high. You want to enjoy everything, look around and see all the people with you, so the whole time I was keeping my head high, smile, look up. That was the only thing I was thinking, look up,” said Gagnon

Gagnon shot an 81 on Thursday after shooting a 78 on Wednesday, but it was her consistency on the back 9 on Thursday that made all the difference. On the front nine, she carded a triple-bogey on No. 5 and finished with 43.

Despite the front nine, as she went from a four-stroke lead after Day 1 to trailing by two, Gagnon knew she was still very much in the hunt.

She ended up shooting a 38 on the back to clinch the title, and she credits her friends for helping her settle down.

“I had a rough front nine. I had a rough three holes in row, but my friends came on the back nine, and I think it actually made me play better, just everyone watching me and seeing all the support I had. I think that’s the only thing that changed my game,” said Gagnon, who won the first individual title in school history for Juan Diego.

Juan Diego’s other top 10 finisher was freshman Sabrina Macias, who finished in sixth with a 166.

For Richfield, along with Janes and Gardner tying for second, its other top 10 finishers were Albrecht in a tie for fourth, Jolley in eighth and Mia Lewis tied for ninth.

Region 13 medalist Jane Poll of Morgan birdied her final hole to finished tied for fourth with Albrecht.

As a team, four of Richfield’s top five golfers shot better in Round 2 than they did in Round 1 as they tried not to put too much pressure on themselves.

“When we walked away yesterday, I said ‘You know what, you guys are ahead by five and we didn’t have our best stuff,’” recalled Jones, “and our less than best is still good enough with these guys if they just compete and keep their head in it. So today going into it, we just said have fun. If you go out there and do what you do, we’ll be fine.”

That’s precisely what they did in leading Richfield to its fifth 3A state title in the past seven years.

Story by Deseret News prep sports journalist James Edward. Republished with permission.

The PGA HOPE program in St. George, Utah began servicing Active Military service personnel and Veterans in 2020. PGA HOPE (Helping Our Patriots Everywhere) is the flagship military program of PGA REACH, the charitable foundation of the PGA of America. PGA HOPE introduces golf to Veterans and Active Duty Military to enhance their physical, mental, social and emotional well-being.

Since 2020, PGA HOPE St. Gorge has impacted over 100 Veterans and plan to serve 40-50 Veterans each year. Utah’s PGA HOPE Ambassador, Jayme Turner, is a graduate of the St. George program. 

For the first time, PGA HOPE St. George has been selected to participate in the PGA of America’s annual Secretary’s Cup golf tournament. The Utah team will head to Louisville, Kentucky May 11-13 for a welcome reception at Churchill Downs, practice rounds, and a 9-hole scramble tournament at the University of Louisville Golf Club.

The Secretary’s Cup is named after the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, recognizing the Department of Veterans Affairs and the PGA of America’s PGA REACH program assisting Veterans in need. The Secretary’s Cup celebrates teams of Veterans and their local PGA Professional playing together in a 9-hole golf tournament of 12 teams competing from around the country. The Secretary’s Cup coincides with the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, May 16-19. 

The PGA HOPE St. George team members:

Tom Brown, an Air Force Veteran. Tom has 20 years of active duty and 25 total years in the military. According to his wife he found it very hard to return to civilian life. For the last eight years, he has worked with St. George area youth, running Junior ROTC programs at the High School level. The program provides leadership training to youth, serving 220-315 kids per year. Both he and his son, soon to be an officer in the Army, went through the PGA HOPE program in fall of 2023. His wife was grateful that this program came about for Tom and the fact he could do it with his son was priceless. It helped him further connect with his family as well as recover from recent hip surgery due to an injury caused during his service. PGA HOPE has been instrumental in his leadership of young recruits and has helped him mentally and physically as he has returned to civilian life. Being able to play in the Secretary’s Cup with his son prior to his son’s deployment will be an amazing experience.

Dallin Brown (Tom’s son) is currently enlisted and recently graduated from the Southern Utah University’s ROTC program and is active in the Army as a 2nd Lieutenant. He will be heading to Virginia immediately after the Secretary’s Cup for service. He never played golf before entering the PGA HOPE program but his athletic background, like his father’s, allowed him to quickly make huge strides toward improvement and playing. Over the course of his military career, he will have the opportunity to use the game of golf to not only play and improve but also to build relationships throughout his service and after. Tom and Dallin now have a great bond of not only the military, but also, the game of golf. Golf will be very instrumental as an officer in the Army and his entire military career. For PGA HOPE to have a young officer be able to share his experience in the program and understand what the game has done for himself and can do for other servicemen and Veteran’s that struggle, will be quite impactful long term.  

Brett Gibson is an Air Force Veteran of over four years with two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan as part of the security forces. He is now a local police officer in the St. George community. He was also able to go through PGA HOPE with his father Craig. It provided time together that they were not getting and  playing together gives them both time together and an outlet. Brett uses golf as a channel to get away from the crime he faces daily as part of the police force. The Secretary’s Cup is an amazing opportunity for him that he never thought was possible being a part of the military and most importantly spending quality time with his dad, and playing a game he loves, golf.

Utah PGA HOPE Ambassador Jayme Turner never played golf before and has now been playing for just a year and a half. Jayme graduated from the PGA HOPE St. George program in the Fall of 2022. Hooked on the game, Jayme is actively recruiting Veterans to the HOPE program. He has served both in the Navy and in the Army, re-enlisting after 9/11terrorist attacks. He has served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn. Serving as a Senior Line Medic and medical operations staff to the operations command center in Iraq. He has been awarded the ARMY Combat Medical Badge, the ARMY Combat Action Badge, the Bronze Star, and the prestigious John R. Teal Leadership Award. After retiring from the service in 2012, he has worked in the medical field, as a Care Technician for the VA helping Veterans daily with their medical issues.

Rob Krieger is a Member of the PGA of America since 1996 and a native of Cleveland, Ohio. He transplanted in the west in 2009 to open a golf facility for a golf management company and now makes his home in St. George. Rob is a Utah PGA Section Player Development award winner and multiple year nominee for his instruction and player development. He began the first PGA HOPE Program in Utah and it continues to grow annually, locally, and statewide. 

“PGA HOPE is one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.” Krieger said. 

He feels deeply that he has a duty to give back to those that have sacrificed, because he didn’t have too. Thrilled that the PGA HOPE St. George, Utah was selected to participate in the Secretary’s Cup, believes the tournament will be a “life-changing event and a once in a lifetime experience.” He is looking forward to meeting other Lead Coaches and Veteran’s from other programs while competing in Kentucky. 

“Having our small program selected and recognized for the accomplishments is both very fulfilling and rewarding personally and professionally.  These experiences will help make PGA HOPE an even more important part of the Southern Utah Community,” said Kreiger. “It is the right thing to be doing for those that have done so much for us.”

Story provided by Rob Krieger, PGA. Photos by Fairways Media/Randy Dodson.