High school golfers fight for titles this week

The best way to determine the quality of a high school golf team is to look at the quality of players it has in the No. 4 and No. 5 positions.

Golf, at least at the prep level, is a game of depth. Yes, it helps to have a player or two capable of shooting the lowest scores. And every good team needs a horse or two to carry a good share of the load. But the team that takes home the trophy is always the one that has the most better-than-average players.

A quick look at this season's region champions across the state proves that true. The team with the best player didn't always win. But in almost every case, the team with the best No. 4 or No. 5 player did.

The state's top prep golfers gather at Soldier Hollow State Park golf course for the Utah High School Golf Championships at Soldier Hollow State Park. The 2A and 5A golfers tee off Monday morning for Round 1, with the final 18 holes scheduled for Tuesday. On Wednesday, the 3A and 4A golfers get going and they'll wrap up their championship on Thursday.

5A: The two teams that finished 1-2 in the state last season should be there again when the dust settles late Tuesday afternoon, but it might be in reverse order. Last season Fremont won the title comfortably over Syracuse. But this season the Titans edged the Silver Wolves in Region 1 competition.

That doesn't mean Fremont can't repeat, or that Syracuse is necessarily the team-to-beat. Region 1 is so loaded with talent that either could prevail. The league had seven players with an average score this season below par.

Teams that could also challenge are Region 4 champ Lone Peak, Region 2 champ Brighton and Region 3 champ Bingham.

The top individual players should be Devon Purser and Colton Ogden of Syracuse, Brandon Kida of Layton, Garrett Moss of Spanish Fork, Joe Parkinson of Lone Peak, Fremont's Zac Blair and Patrick Fishburn, Nic Booth of Copper Hills and Brighton's Casey Halliday.

4A: Defending champ Dixie lost most of its star players, but the Flyers easily won Region 9 and are probably again the team to beat.

However, the 4A title is more up for grabs than any other. Springville, Bonneville, East, Orem and Highland all have enough depth that they could take home the crown with a solid two days of golf.

Those vying for medalist should be Dixie's McCoy Willey, Pine View's Steven Wade, Springville's Daniel Kerr, Orem's Dalton Stanger, Box Elder's Joe Wight, Highland's Walker Jensen, East's Tanner Tew, Bonneville's Greg Diaz and Brock Glassman, and Cottonwood's Adam Ostler.