1 / 7

Spanish Fork junior Jackson Rhees watches his shot during the first round of the 2021 5A state boys golf tournament at The Oaks at Spanish Fork on Monday, Oct. 4, 2021. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

2 / 7

Spanish Fork senior Payton Whitehead hits a sand shot during the first round of the 2021 5A state boys golf tournament at The Oaks at Spanish Fork on Monday, Oct. 4, 2021. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

3 / 7

Lehi freshman Toa Ofanhengaue watches his shot during the first round of the 2021 5A state boys golf tournament at The Oaks at Spanish Fork on Monday, Oct. 4, 2021. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

4 / 7

Spanish Fork senior Noah Taylor watches his putt during the first round of the 2021 5A state boys golf tournament at The Oaks at Spanish Fork on Monday, Oct. 4, 2021. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

5 / 7

Spanish Fork senior Max Murray hits a shot during the first round of the 2021 5A state boys golf tournament at The Oaks at Spanish Fork on Monday, Oct. 4, 2021. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

6 / 7

Spanish Fork junior Jackson Rhees walks past some colorful fall leaves during the first round of the 2021 5A state boys golf tournament at The Oaks at Spanish Fork on Monday, Oct. 4, 2021. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

7 / 7

Lehi junior KJ Ofanhengaue hits a tee shot during the first round of the 2021 5A state boys golf tournament at The Oaks at Spanish Fork on Monday, Oct. 4, 2021. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

❮ ❯

Spanish Fork junior golfer Jackson Rhees addressed his ball on Hole No. 18 at The Oaks at Spanish Fork Monday afternoon knowing he was in good shape to be the leader after the first day of the two-day 5A tournament.

He sat at 3-under-par and with trees and sand traps guarding the green on the par-5 hole, many might have chosen to play it safe.

Not Rhees. That’s not his style.

“He’s an aggressive player by nature,” Don head coach Jordan Rogers said. “He hit a 4-iron from about 220 yards out that I thought was the shot of the tournament. He knows he’s in the lead but instead of nursing the lead, he was looking to extend the lead.”

The shot turned out to be a beauty, settling just a few feet from the hole and allowing Rhees to two-putt for a birdie. He ended up as the leader in the clubhouse with a 68 (4-under-par). That was good enough to be two strokes ahead of Spanish Fork senior Noah Taylor and Lehi junior KJ Ofahengaue.

“I hit the ball well,” Rhees said. “I putted okay. The greens are fast but overall I felt good about my game. I was even making the turn, then had a good back-nine. I made some birdies out it to get to four-under.”

The performance of Rhees and Taylor helped propel the Dons into second place with a team score of 297 (9-over-par), five strokes behind the defending champs from Skyline.

“Our No. 3 and 4 guys didn’t play as well as they can play,” Rhees said. “If they can pick it up tomorrow and Noah and I can play well again, I think we’ll have a pretty good chance.”

Since the state tournament has to be held somewhere, at least one team is always going to have a home-course advantage and this time that is in Spanish Fork’s favor.

“It’s obviously our home and we won’t make any apologies for that,” Rogers said. “There is an advantage to be had knowing what is going on on those greens. We’ve known for a couple years state was going to be at our course and we prepared for that. All season long my guys have put in tons and tons of rounds to learn that course, every square inch of it.”

Being at home, however, wasn’t completely a plus for the Dons.

“We had a lot of home crowd, which was great but it also put us a little bit out of our element because we aren’t used to that,” Rogers said. “We started slow and at one point I think we were in eighth or ninth place. I thought, ‘this is not my team.’ But on the back-nine the guys settled in and did their thing. It was fun to watch.”

Rogers and Rhees feel like Spanish Fork is in good position to battle Skyline for the title, although they know it won’t be easy.

“I think we can make a move if we play well,” Rhees said. “It’s fun to think about but we’ve got to go do it.”

The second day of the 5A state tournament will take place at The Oaks at Spanish Fork starting on Tuesday morning at 10 a.m.

Lone Peak dominates first round of 6A state boys golf

The Lone Peak boys golf team once again showed its depth and talent as it rocketed out to a big lead after Day 1 of the 6A tournament at Davis Park golf course in Kaysville on Monday.

At a team the Knights shot a 279 (9-under-par), which gave Lone Peak a 12-shot lead over second-place Corner Canyon and Fremont.

The Knights were led by senior Preston Smithson, who shot a 67 (5-under-par) to tie with Herriman freshman Ryker Lind for the top individual score for the day.

Lone Peak also got a 69 (3-under-par) from freshman Kihei Akina and a 70 (2-under-par) from junior Cooper Jones.

Pleasant Grove senior Josh Savage also shot a 70, putting him in a tie for fourth with Jones and two Corner Canyon golfers.

The Knights will go for their fourth straight championship and eighth title in nine years when the final round gets underway at Davis Park in Kaysville on Tuesday at 8:30 a.m.

For complete score details and tee times, go to UHSAA.org.

Newsletter