ETV News stock photo by Jeff Barrett
The Dinos are in full swing as their season is already underway. The individual state champion, Bode Salas, is back for his junior year and looking to defend his title. “He’s one of the most solid golfers in terms of his mental game that I’ve ever seen,” head coach Robbie Etzel said. “He’s just so knowledgeable in terms of his own game and his swings. I tell people all the time, he’s like a sophomore in college playing on a high school golf team.”
There are a number of other returners as well, including Daron Garner. “Gardner’s been playing pretty well,” commented Etzel. “They’re all doing pretty well this year.”
Carbon is in a unique spot where it can contend for a region title and possibly a state championship, with only one senior in the ranks. “Only having one senior makes it a building season again.” Etzel quickly added, “[but] there’s no reason not to receive an automatic bid to state. They made it to that second day [of state last year], and I’m expecting them to do it again.”
Early indications are that Region 12 will once more be decided between Richfield and Carbon. “Trevin Wakefield for Emery is a terrific golfer and Wyatt Toney for Grand is very consistent. [But] outside Carbon and Richfield, there isn’t a team that has the depth. It’s a battle for first and second between us and Richfield.”
One of the most exciting aspects for Etzel and the program has been the emergence of middle school golf. “I have quite a few freshman. I tip my cap to Mont Harmon. It makes my job easy that these kids have a feel for real tournaments.” He continued, “It’s been a job well done at the middle schools. I had so many kids that want to play that I had to make cuts. That’s a good problem to have.”
The word on the street is that Morgan’s top golfer will not participate at the high school level this year. That opens the door for several teams to compete for the state championship. “Union and Juab are solid. There’s Richfield and us. It should make for a very exciting state tournament,” Etzel remarked. “A lot of teams gunning for that state title.”