Highland boys golf takes second place at state

Highland’s second place finish during the 4A state golf tournament, Oct. 3-4, was the perfect way to end a great season. Five of the last year’s top eight golfers returned to the team this year, which helped Highland improve on last season’s third place finish. Coach Paul Tate said the mix of younger players and older, more experienced players was just enough to give them a top three finish at state.

“We’ve been building our program for quite a while. We’ve been getting better every year,” he said. “The kids are developing and the scores have been going down. We practice every day and that has helped a lot.”

Matt Loosle, Mitch Creer, Devin Tovey, Andrew Sorenson, Greg Hopkins, and Jabe Adams represented Highland at the tournament held at Hobble Creek Golf Course. The Rams were 10 strokes behind Woods Cross, who won the tournament and nine strokes ahead of Timpview and Maple Mountain, who tied for third place.

Loosle tied for sixth place individually in the tournament and was the only golfer to make the top 10 for Highland. This is his second year playing on the team and as a junior, next year he will be one of the most experienced golfers on Highland’s team. Tate said Loosle has been solid all year and was the best sophomore player on the team.

Tovey, Creer and Sorenson will graduate this year. Tovey has been one of the most consistent players and helped the team earn its second place finish. Sorenson found himself filling in for another teammate who left early in the season. Tate said all three seniors made a difference in how Highland finished this season.

“We’re building something here that will be a traditional power, not just a shot in the dark one year and then takes eight years to get back up there,” he said. “We’re hoping we can compete next year at the same level. We had most of our kids back this year and thought we ought to be a top three team this year. Losing one of the players from last year’s team could have been bad, but for our team this year to overcome that and take home a trophy is phenomenal.”

Although the boys golf season is in the fall, Tate said he encourages his players to participate in the Junior Utah Golf Association year round. Not only does it keep the players playing golf on a regular basis, it also gives them the ability to play in tournaments.

“That’s the difference between these kids and kids in the past,” he said. “They get to play in tournaments. We’ve always had kids that can play well but when you add in the stress of the tournament, it can be tough for the kids.”

Tate said his team is finally starting to realize they can compete with other schools in 4A and win. Highland’s top three finishes the last two years hasn’t happened at the school since the 1960s. Playing golf year round and consistently dropping strokes has had a huge impact on the players.

“I think that last year’s finish, the kids realized they were good enough to take home the trophy. There wasn’t always that confidence. The expectations were higher this year and we achieved more,” he said.