High school golf: Sirene Blair leads Bingham to 5A state title

SALT LAKE CITY — On the very first hole, she started out driving the ball into the lake. Then her next shot went into a sand trap. After all, ninth-graders could be nervous playing in the 5A girls state golf championship, but Bingham's Sirene Blair settled those nerves quickly.

She blasted out of the sand trap to within a few feet of the cup and holed her putt to post a par at the Glendale Golf Course on Thursday morning.

That helped pave the way to a round of 67 that translated to 95 points under the Stableford scoring system and medalist honors.

No other golfer in this tournament broke par.

Second-place honors went to senior Nicole Gaddie of Skyline, who carded a 1-over par 73 (89 points Stableford). Last year's champion, Weber's Tara Green, placed third with 88 points.

Gaddie struggled over the front nine before she finally got it going on the back nine, where she shot 2-under par, but by then it was too late.

"It was mostly just nerves," Gaddie said.

Team-wise, it was all Bingham as Blair's sterling round of 5-under-par led the Miners to the championship with a score of 243. Fremont tallied 237 for second place and Skyline posted a 234 for third.

After the first hole, Blair was nearly unstoppable. On the 12th hole, Blair selected her 3-wood, drove the ball pin high, chipped to within about 6 feet and holed the putt for a birdie.

Bingham's coach, Liz Conry, arrived just in time to welcome Blair coming off the 18th green. Conry had a baby just a few days ago, but she wasn't going to miss this performance.

"I was planning to have my baby on the 18th green," Conry said, "but luckily it came a couple of days early."

5A Girls Golf High School State Championship

Team scores

243 - Bingham

237 - Fremont

234 - Skyline

233 - Brighton

228 - Layton

224 - Weber

221 - Alta

219 - Davis

199 - Copper Hills