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There were some nervy moments down the stretch, but Morgan’s Lance Loughton did enough Thursday to repeat as 3A medalist.
After lipping out a putt on No. 17 that would’ve given him a one-stroke lead heading into the last hole, Loughton stepped up and sank a birdie putt of similar length on No. 18 to clinch the individual title.
Loughton finished the tournament with a 4-under 136 to edge Ben Lomond’s Cayson VanBeekum, who shot a 3-under 137.
“Coming into the tournament it was going to be tough, it’s going to windy and rainy. I just kind of had the attitude to get it under par and hold on a little because it was tough. Tough pins, tough weather, tough state championship,” said Loughton. “Honestly I feel like I played with my C game today, but my dad said sometimes you have to win with C game.”
Morgan’s Jace Benson and Richfield’s Pace Mullen tied for third at 138.
Rainy conditions made scoring difficult for much of Thursday’s final round at The Ridge Golf Course, but Richfield was able to navigate it better than anyone else to reclaim the 3A state title by just three strokes ahead of Morgan.
After trailing Morgan by one stroke after Wednesday’s opening round, Richfield finished four strokes better on Thursday to post a 570 team score and reclaim the state title after winning in 2022.
Defending state champ Morgan finished second with a 573 and Carbon third with a 584.
“I just told the guys to go have fun. Whatever happens, happens, and they did. They had fun. A couple times I had to keep their chins up, but they were out there enjoying the day even though it was raining,” said Richfield coach Todd Mullen.
He had high praise for all six of his golfers. In addition to Pace Mullen finishing in third, sophomore Max Albrecht tied for sixth and senior Kaylen Kelsey tied for ninth.
Coach Mullen praised Kelsey for his composure down the stretch, which was critical to the team title. After Kelsey bogeyed Nos. 13, 14 and 15, he closed with par, birdie, par, which was instrumental in the three-stroke win over Morgan.
Mullen also had high praise for Richfield’s No. 6 golfer Ike Shaw, who shot a 71 on Wednesday. It helped offset some high numbers from the Wildcats’ Nos. 4 and 5 golfers, who regrouped with better Day 2 rounds.
Coach Mullen got a bit emotional after the match considering his senior son is going out a state champion and he’s been around this group of kids for so many years.
“Your ultimate goal is you want to win the championship. That’s why you coach, that’s why you coach and why you play, and when it happens … in a surprising manner, it’s exciting,” he said.
As happy as Loughton was about his individual title, the Utah Ute commit expressed frustration that he didn’t finish better to help the Trojans repeat.
Loughton started a bit slow with a double bogey on No. 3 on Thursday, but he regrouped with three birdies to close out the front nine and seize a three-stroke lead.
VanBeekum, meanwhile, slowly kept creeping up the leaderboard, as he birdied four of his last eight holes to post a 3-under, including a short tap-in on No. 18.
His 68 on was the low round of the day by two strokes.
It looked like his reward would be second place, but then Loughton bogeyed No. 16 after an errant drive on the Par 4, and suddenly the region rivals were tied atop the leaderboard.
Loughton had a chance to go ahead on No. 17 but he lipped out a four-foot birdie putt. On No. 18, Loughton pulled his drive left but said he got a favorable bounce as it put him on a hilltop about 40 yards to the side of the green.
He put his chip shot about five feet from the hole, but it was still a tricky putt.
“It broke a lot. I played it a ball out left and I hit it firm. It broke a ton. It was a hard putt,” said Loughton, who after some thought said it was probably the biggest pressure put he’s made.
“Feeling good. It wasn’t the golf I wanted to play, but got it done barely.”
At The Ridge Golf Course (par 72)
Full leaderboard
Final team scores
Individual results (Top 20)
English