Grand Leads After First Day
by Brain E. Preece, Deseret Morning News
PROVO — Much of the 2A field of golfers struggled with the The Reserve at East Bay layout as only three golfers broke 80 and no golfers shot under par.
Playing conditions in the morning were brisk, and play was suspended approximately 20 minutes for the early morning fog to burn off.
When it finally did, Beaver's Johnny Lindsay shot a 1-over par 73 to take the first-day lead over Waterford's Blake Peterson, who carded a 74. Both have a relatively comfortable lead over the South Sevier's Trevor Gregerson, who scored a 79. He will have to play today's round without the support of his teammates as they failed to be among the top eight teams that advance to the second day.
Lindsay's fine round sparked the Beavers to second place behind the Grand Red Devils. Grand shot a team total of 339 with Beaver in second place at 340. Waterford is at 348, Rowland Hall (349), Richfield (349) and Millard (350) — all teams within a realistic striking range of the top two teams.
Grand was the most consistent golf team with four golfers. All four shot 90 or below, led by Kyle Esquibel's mark of 80, good enough for a tie for fourth place overall. Esquibel got needed support from Ben Copeland (82), Bryce Till (87) and Chase Pruitt (90).
Waterford's Peterson was on pace to shoot par but a double bogey on his last hole netted him a 74. Considered a tourney favorite by many, Peterson will be grouped with Lindsay and Gregerson with the likely individual medalist coming from this group.
"I didn't hit the ball very well early in the round," Peterson said. "It was pretty cold in the morning. I did putt pretty well. It was an OK day."
Rowland Hall Coach Terri Ellefsen was pleased with her team's performance (fourth place going into tomorrow's round). Rowland Hall's best four scores, which count in the team race, came from two sophomores and two freshmen. "For being a young team, a green team, it was a very respectable performance considering the conditions."
Temperatures for today are forecasted to be warmer but the tees will be moved back on most tees, promising to make the scoring even more difficult. Golfing will start at 9 a.m. today on both the first and 10th tees. Individual pairings are available at www.uhsaa.org.