High school golf: Dixie wins 4A crown; St. Joseph wins 1A/2A title

Published: Wednesday, May 13, 2009 11:54 p.m. MDT
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The state's prep girls golfers made history on Wednesday and did it in dramatic fashion.

And fittingly, the Dixie Flyers were right in the middle of the excitement by walking away with the first 4A Utah high school girls golf championship by surviving a two-hole playoff with the Murray Spartans at Glendale Golf Course in Salt Lake City. Dixie also won the combined girls classification state tournament that was held last year.

"The boys at Dixie have had a lot of success in state golf, and for the girls to start having that same kind success is pretty exciting for the junior golfers down in St. George," Flyer coach Eron Demming said.

Using a Stableford scoring format, which awards varying points for double eagle through quadruple bogey, both the Flyers and Spartans finished the regulation 18 holes tied with 241 points.

Since the team score is determined by the total of the top three point getters, the playoff was determined by the total of the top three scorers out of four from each team. After both teams totaled the same number of points on the first playoff hole, the Flyers took home the title with two pars and a bogey on the second playoff hole while Murray managed only three bogeys.

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In the medalist battle, Dixie's Kelsey Vines outdueled her future BYU teammate Anika Afoa of Murray by shooting a 6-under par 66 and scoring 96 points, to Afoa's 2-under par 70 and 92 points. Kandice Alires from West finished third with 89 points, Morgan Workman of Box Elder took fourth with 87 points and Nicole Thomas of Dixie finished fifth with 84 points.

Vines took control of the individual battle with four birdies on the front side while Afoa turned the corner trailing by five Stableford points. The course played short for the two bombers who drove several par fours and putted for eagle on most of the par fives. And even though Afoa rolled in an eight-foot eagle on the par-5 13th, Vines maintained her margin with three more birdies on the back side.

However, Vines missed short birdie putts on the final three holes, including a five-footer on the par-4 18th that would have won the title for Dixie in regulation.

"I didn't realize that putt would have won it for us, but once I found that out I was pretty mad at myself and would have taken the blame," Vines said.

But in the playoff she added a birdie and a par, while her Dixie teammates — Thomas, Aubry Smith and Kayla Popovich — came through in the clutch. On the first hole the Spartans had a slight advantage when Afoa and Measha Meier drove it off the back fringe on the par-4 10th hole. But only Afoa made birdie, which was matched by Vines when she chipped to within four feet and made the putt.

Recent comments

I would like to see mr. "Blah blah blah" play kelsey vines. Pretty...

Golfer | May 20, 2009 at 6:36 p.m.

Congrats to Milford High for winning the 1-A state championship!!!...

Small town golfer | May 15, 2009 at 8:44 a.m.

What does title XI have to do with golf? Federal Ship Financing...

Golfer Dad | May 14, 2009 at 5:00 p.m.

Image

Dixie's Kelsey Vines hits out of the sand at the 4A girls golf championship.

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