The 5A state golf tournament didn’t go as anyone anticipated. Weather and visibility issues cut Day 1 short, and only eight of the 16 5A teams finished before play was suspended.
Results were still up in the air, as the top two teams in Spanish Fork and Timpview each finished only 12 holes on Monday. The rest of Day 1’s holes were finished early Tuesday morning, and weather kept the tournament from completing its final 18.
Timpview held a healthy seven-stroke lead over Spanish Fork after Monday, but the Dons started gaining ground Tuesday morning and cut it to just four strokes. However, a clutch 18th hole secured the Thunderbirds’ first state championship since 2015.
“It was just a weird two days, obviously yesterday with the rain and the fog, and then having to come back early this morning,” Timpview head coach Jeff Ward said. “We were hitting balls at 6:45 a.m. in the dark to get warmed up.
“My guys really responded well. Spanish Fork played really well, and they closed the gap. My boys just responded.”
For a team that hasn’t won in 11 years, you might assume Timpview had a healthy crop of seniors. Instead, this year’s Thunderbirds have only one senior and one junior.
Ward knew his team would be good; it wasn’t until their first tournament that he saw this year’s group’s deep potential.
“I was just talking to a parent going into this year, and I knew that we’d be pretty good, but then we came out in our very first tournament, and we shot 11-under as a team score at TalonsCove,” Ward said. “I thought, ‘Okay, we just might be better than pretty good.’
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“I just thought, ‘We’ll just shift gears and let’s put the pedal to the metal and work hard and see what we can do.’”
The 11-year team championship wasn’t the only drought Timpview broke; it also had its first medalist since 2012.
This year’s medalist? Nick Miller. A Timpview freshman who shot -9 and beat out second place by four strokes.
Despite the weather and fog, he couldn’t have started the state tournament on a better foot. As a freshman, in his first state tournament, he eagled the very first hole.
“It was obviously pretty much a perfect start because I was a little nervous because my first two shots weren’t that great,” said Miller. “But then I made a nice putt for eagle, which gave me a little bit of momentum heading into the rest of the day.”
Miller bogeyed only once, but also birdied eight holes. He scored just four strokes ahead of his senior teammate, Calvin Lillywhite.
Timpview sophomore Christian Whitmore finished tied for fifth.
“It’s awesome to see everyone else on our team having success,” Miller said. “There’s nothing better than winning, and it’s always fun to win individually, but winning with the team is about as fun as it gets because you get to celebrate with six other guys.”
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5A State Tournament
At Bountiful Ridge Golf Course
Full Leaderboard
Final team scores
- Timpview, 276
- Spanish Fork, 280
- Olympus, 292
- Skyline, 293
- Fremont, 296
- Northridge, 297
- Brighton, 298
- West Field, 301
- Salem Hills, 303
- Maple Mountain, 303
- Viewmont, 305
- Pleasant Grove, 309
- Clearfield, 318
- Woods Cross, 321
- Box Elder, 327
- Cyprus, 333
Individual results (Top 25)
62 — Nick Miller, Fr., Timpview
66 — Calvin Lillywhite, Sr., Timpview
68 — Jace Anderson, Sr., Spanish Fork
69 — Wyatt Biagi, So., Olympus
70 — Luke Manning, So., Fremont
70 — Derek Harris, Sr., Spanish Fork
70 — Christian Whitmore, So., Timpview
70 — Chase Dalton, Jr., Viewmont
70 — Corver Barnes, Sr., Viewmont
71 — Abram Nevers, Sr., Olympus
71 — Lucas Cook, Jr., Spanish Fork
71 — Bodie Green, So., Skyline
71 — Axel Schiller, So., Spanish Fork
72 — Nick Hadley, Sr., Northridge
72 — Miles Shoemaker, Jr., Salem Hills
72 — Carson Knight, Jr.
72 — Tate Barber, Jr., Spanish Fork
72 — Mack Herzog, Jr., West Field
72 — Ethan Luna, Sr., West Field
73 — Andrew High, Sr., Brighton
73 — Nate Rynearson, Sr., Northridge
73 — Jack Murray, So., Brighton
73 — Casen Durfey, Jr., Maple Mountain
73 — Gavin Wight, Fr., Box Elder
73 — Tyler Allen, Jr., Woods Cross
73 — Perry Shaffer, So., Skyline