High school golf: Desert Hills dominates 3A girls golf

MURRAY — The 3A girls golf championship round at Meadowbrook Golf Course Thursday afternoon lacked one thing — drama.

The Desert Hills Thunder reigned over the opposing competition to claim the well-earned hardware with a combined score of 237 — beating out second place Park City by 11 points and 24 strokes.

The Thunder astonishingly had four out of the top eight scores of the day. Hannah Folks led the charge with a 79 — the second best score of the round. She was followed by her teammates Sarah Folks, Ashley Kraft and Tesia Swaydan, who penciled scores of 83, 87 and 88 ranking fourth, seventh and eighth on the day, respectively.

"They were incredible," said Desert Hills coach Laurie Cook. "They all did such a good job. I'm really excited for them, we weren't expecting this — we're very surprised (and) very pleased. We've done well all season because they all score very close together. They're amazing golfers. They're very consistent (and) never way out of it. They may change places within a stroke or two, but no one ever just blows out of it."

The story of the day was nearly stolen by the play of Park City's Sami Crouch. After an incredible round, her scorecard sparkled with a score of 69 — flying past her nearest competition by 10 strokes. Her round was highlighted on the 17th hole, where she chipped in for birdie — her fourth of the day. "I started off a little bit rocky, but it got a lot better at the end. I finished 3-under on my last four holes," stated Crouch. "My hybrid was doing real well today, (I was) pushing my driver a little bit all day, but some of (my shots) were real good drives."

Crouch, a senior, is planning on getting her education at the University of Utah and majoring in medicine.

The top-10 finishers, out of a field of 63, earned an invitation to the first team all-state banquet. The recipients included Crouch, Hannah Folks, Judge's Allie Nakamura, Sarah Folks, Megan Woodward of Morgan, Richfield's Brook Bliss, Kraft, Swaydan, Mandee Miler of Ben Lomond and Carbon's Kelcy Otani.

e-mail: tphibbs@desnews.com

Girls' 3A Golf State Championship Agate

Meadowbrook Golf Course

Team Scores

237 – Desert Hills

226 – Park City

205 – Carbon

200 – Judge