Thursday was a good day for Park City High School golf coach George Murphy the sun was shining and his girls were winning.
The second of the two is par for the course for the Miners, who lead second-place Uintah by 82 strokes in Region 10 play. Thursday they had a total score of 128 28 under second-place finishers Uintah and Judge, who tied at 156 total strokes.
As for the weather, well, Murphy just takes it day by day. The team has had to change so many practices and tournaments this season that it is hard to remember what the original schedule looked like. The girls have long abandoned the Park City Golf Club, Soldier Hollow or Glenwild as their home course, instead opting for the more weather-consistent Glendale Course in west Salt Lake that the Judge Bulldogs use as well.
“It’s been as difficult as last season,” said Murphy.
However, Thursday’s match at the Mick Riley Course in Murray was darn near perfect. The weather was a bit windy, but there was no snow or rain and all of the varsity players turned in top performances. No. 1 player Sami Crouch took the easy, shooting a 38, three strokes ahead of second-place Ali Nakamura of Judge. Crouch, a year-round Utah Junior Golf Association player, finally returned to the team after a one-year hiatus to receive treatments on a chronic back condition. Crouch was hard on herself, lamenting minor screw-ups on the nine-hole course, but still finishing just one-over-par.
“I played horrible today,” she said.
Despite her personal criticism, Crouch’s immense talent is a boon to an already successful Park City team and gives the Miners a legitimate shot at taking the 3A title this year from defending state champion Ogden. In fact, with just two matches left in the season, the girls are already eyeing the Tigers. Crouch said that she looks at each match as a chance to improve her game and is already focused on beating Ogden in a few weeks.
“I think we can beat them,” Crouch said.
In third was Park City’s Carina Crosby, with a 44. Crosby said she was happy with the day, but wants to work more on her short game before the end of the season.
“I lost a lot of strokes on my chipping and putting,” she said.
Crosby took second on Monday in match hosted by Judge at Glendale, finishing just behind Crouch.
“Carina’s been playing well,” Murphy said.
Crosby said playing with Crouch ahead of her this year has really helped her game.
“It inspires me for sure,” she said. “It makes me want to play better. She’s a great asset for the team.”
The Miners will host their own tournament this Thursday at the Park City Golf Club at 11 a.m.