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Bingham girls golf takes state

Jun 05, 2017 11:42AM ● By Billy Swartzfager

The 2017 Bingham girls golf team (Brett Boberg/Bingham Head Coach)

By Billy Swartzfager | [email protected]
 
Bingham High School girls golf coach Brett Boberg firmly believes his team is as tough as they come. The coach and the golfers focused on the same things this season to achieve their goal of taking a state title.
 
Last season, the Miners took second place in the 5A state tournament. Boberg felt that the experience gained from last season would be a big factor for 2017.
 
“We were very young and didn’t have a single senior in our lineup, so we’re coming in this year with some more experience,” he said.
 
After running away with the Region 3 title in 2016, Bingham didn’t lose a step this year. The team didn’t lose a region matchup or tournament in 2017. All of the success could easily be linked to the work ethic found throughout the program’s rigor, including practices and the offseason. Boberg claims his golfers may be addicted to practicing. He said they go out to the range even when he has given them a day off or the weather has chosen not to cooperate.
 
“We have a culture of hard work on this team, and the girls go out and prove it every single day,” Boberg said. “Furthermore, these girls work all season long to improve their golf games. There is no offseason for most of these girls.”
 
This year’s team was led by several of the region’s top golf talents. Tess Blair, a sophomore, is Bingham’s top golfer. She is Region 3’s No.1-ranked player and has won every region match and tournament for 2017. She was also featured on the cover of Fairways Magazine. Tess recently shot a 69 at Meadowbrook Golf Course.
 
Bingham’s No. 2 golfer is also a sophomore. Carissa Graft took home second-place at last season’s state tournament and is currently sitting at No. 2 in Region 3, just behind Blair.
 
The No. 3 golfer on the squad is junior Jenique Jacobs. She has been swinging clubs at Bingham since she was a freshman, when she helped lead the team to a fourth-place finish at state.
 
Seniors, Kassidy Wallin and Pio Savageau are team captains and lead by example and through their experience.
 
The team is close with one another, as well, adding great chemistry to the already established expectation of hard work and dedication. The Miners travel to St. George every year to play golf against 3A powerhouse Desert Hills High School. They play golf at Sun River, and the Miners have never beaten the Thunder on their turf.
 
The team traveled south in April but was unable to golf due to poor weather but was able to get in some bonding time off the course.
 
According to the coach, 2016 was a tough year for the team. They weren’t terribly experienced and there were some unforeseeable events that made golf a secondary concern. This season was different because the group grew together through the hard times and has come together as a more unified and experienced group.
 
“We’ve grown mentally tougher,” Boberg said. “We don’t whine on bad luck or bad breaks. These girls just keep grinding it out.”
 
The Miners, led by Boberg and assistant coach Jodi Sadler, have likened the team to the original miners who inhabited the valley. Boberg says they are similar in that those on the team come from all sorts of different backgrounds but have come together for one goal and work hard to achieve it.
 
“They are bulldogs,” Boberg said.