High school 3A girls golf: Ogden repeats as 3A golf champs

SYRACUSE — Ogden successfully defended its 3A girls golf championship Thursday at Schneiter's Bluff Golf Course after a solid start.

The Tigers held off a strong charge from Park City's Sami Crouch, who laid claim to the individual title, shooting a 74 to edge out Courtney Smith of Ogden, who carded a 75.

Both played head-to-head in the final threesome along with Deseret Hill's Jasmine Candland, who finished with an 82.

Smith made the turn at even par and a one stroke lead over Crouch. Crouch missed a 2-foot birdie putt on number 10 while Smith bogeyed. Crouch then displayed her long ball and a solid short game to build up a 3-stoke lead.

The match, however, went down to the final hole before Crouch made par and walked off with the victory.

Where did such a small girl get such tremendous power?

"It's all in my swing," she said about her drives that consistently traveled 250 yards.

Her blasts could have been intimidating, but Ogden coach Pat Price complimented his team, saying: "They didn't get intimidated. Everyone did the job they needed to, and they took care of business."

Perhaps the shot of the day belonged to Ogden's Kelsey Haycock, who drove the green on the par 4 second hole. Then knocked down a 50-foot putt for an eagle. Make that the "two" shots of the day.

Her coach said the putt "might have been 60 feet." Either way, her confidence soared on her way to an 82.

Mary Bischoff ground her way to an 80 to round out the three counting scores for the Tigers. On the 18th hole she blew out of the sand to within 3 feet of the pin and finished off the putt for a par four.

Last year's individual defending champion, Judge's Alli Nakamura, carded a 78 on her way to a third-place finish.

"There were just a couple of holes that messed me up," Nakamura said.

The Stableford scoring system provoked some discussion this year, but Jeff Smith, golf coach at Weber State, explained: "It is more for the lower-functioning girl."

Smith is also the father of Ogden's Courtney Smith and was mum on whether she was going to attend Weber. He didn't want to break any NCAA regulations.

It turns out she is still a junior at Ogden so the matter is of little consequence at this time.

Crouch is a junior at Park City, and her coach, George Murphy, is looking forward to next year. And he is happy with the way his team performed this year. "They improved from last year," he said.

E-mail: wjewkes@desnews.com