Girls’ golf • Bingham sophomore wins individual title, leads team to overall crown.
Kaysville • As hail began to fall Tuesday at the Davis Park Golf Course, three white balls sat on the 15th green looking like the only adults in the room — with hundreds of smaller icy balls around them.
That’s until Bingham’s Tess Blair ditched her umbrella to race out to remove her ball after placing a marker to save the spot.
“I didn’t want the wind to move the ball,” Blair said,
It was one of many right decisions for the Miners’ sophomore, who claimed the Class 5A girls’ golf state championship by 10 strokes and lead Bingham to the team title.
Blair may have started a state title run of her own. Her older sister Sirene won four individual crowns from 2009 to 2013 before playing collegiately at San Diego State.
“This feels amazing. I wanted this so bad for our seniors,” Blair said.
Blair shot a 68 in Monday’s first round then followed that with a 69 in the final round. The Miners’ standout was aware her closest rivals already had lost ground halfway through the second round.
“I told myself to just play my game. I wasn’t as aggressive as yesterday, that’s for sure,” said Blair, who finished with a total of 137.
As for the conditions, Blair paid little regard to their influence, especially when the rain picked up again and she put a 50-yard approach shot on the 17th green.
“I try noy to let it bother me,” Blair said. “I’m kind of used to it. In Utah, we play in a lot of bad weather.”
Second to Blair individually was Westlake sophomore Alina Vannarath, while Blair’s teammate Carissa Graft solidified Bingham’s cushion over second-place Lone Peak by shooting a two-day total of 148 for third.
“I feel like, yeah, I really played well. But it was just a lot easier yesterday, a lot less rain,” Graft said about the disrupting nature of, well, nature. “We get in the clubhouse [during the second delay of the day] and they were like, ‘OK, it’s safe to go back’ about two minutes after we got here.”
Graft finished second at the 2016 state tournament, while Blair was fourth. But having Blair jump her one year later didn’t bother Graft.
“It didn’t surprise me,” Graft said. “She is a great golfer. It was more of a surprise how poor she played in the second round last year.”

Class 4A
Corner Canyon defended its state championship, claiming the Class 4A state title by 17 shots over Alta at Meadowbrook Golf Course on Tuesday.
Emma Winfree, who tied for third place, led the Chargers with a two-day total of 171 points in the Stableford scoring system.
Alta’s Cora Mickelsen shot a 68 for the second consecutive day to win medalist honors and stop Provo senior Naomi Soifua’s reign atop 4A. The Hawks finished second in the team standings.
Soifua, who won the last three individual titles, was second with a 179, nine shots behind Mickelsen.
Bonneville’s Dallas Christoffersen tied for third with Winfree, helping the Lakers place third.
Class 5A state tournament
Stableford scoring results
Team scores • 1. Bingham 678; 2. Lone Peak 670; 3. Davis 610; 4. Brighton 589; 5. Fremont 583.
Individual top 10 • 1. Tess Blair, Bingham, 185; 2. Alina Vannarath, Westlake, 175; 3. Carissa Graft, Bingham, 174; 4. Abbey Porter, Lone Peak, 172; (tie) Whitney Banz, West, 172; 6. Lauren Taylor, Lone Peak, 169; 7. Jenique Jacobs, Bingham, 166; (tie) Maegen Nitta, Lone Peak, 166; 9. Maddie Moss, Lone Peak, 163; 10. Libby Ward, Syracuse, 163.