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There's an old saying in sports that a team is the champion until someone knocks them out of that spot.
Such is true for just about all high school state tournaments as teams like Timpview in football and Provo and Lone Peak in boys basketball have to be dethroned.
But today will be the only state tourney this spring without a defending champion.
That's because this is the first season of girls golf as its own program.
"No one knows how it will go," said Orem head coach Greg Shiede, who guided his squad to a second-place finish in Region 7 behind Tooele. "Until something is established, who knows? We've seen the scores, but everyone has been playing different courses. Anything could happen."
It's been a wild ride for many of the girls, many of whom had never touched a club before the season began. There have been plenty of tough times but there have also been moments of glory.
"On of our girls, Amy Stewart, got a hole-in-one," Shiede said. "She's been playing for two months and got one while I've been playing for 40 years and never had one. It was on No. 2 at Cascade Golf Center in Oremduring a practice round and the girls went wild, jumping and screaming."
Due to the uncertainty about numbers, the Utah High School Activities Association elected to combine the 1A/2A/3A classifications into one tourney and chose to do the same with 4A/5A.Shiede would've liked to have seen separate titles for each level, particularly because he knows it will be harder for his team to have a shot going up against the bigger schools.
"Skyline and Cottonwood both have a couple of girls that played with the boys and Lone Peak is very deep," he said. "But it's going to come down to the third and fourth players to determine where each team will place."
The Tiger coach said he enjoys the uncertainty to some extent.
"It's a crapshoot," he said. "Everybody has a chance. I just want the girls to relax and have fun. It's not about getting stressed out. They're a little nervous and excited about competing."
The 4A/5A round of 18 holes is slated to begin today at 11 a.m. at Davis Park Golf Course in Fruit Heights.
• Jared Lloyd can be reached at
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