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SALT LAKE CITY — Three years ago, Kennedee Pearson — then a freshman and the only varsity girls golfer at Woods Cross — said she was quitting the team unless the program changed.
Her father, Brandon, approached the school and asked if he could help in any capacity. Later that year, they came back and said, "Would you like to be the head coach?"
"Let's run it," Brandon Pearson told them.
The Wildcats finished sixth last year in their first state championship appearance under Pearson but are now state champions for the first time ever. Kennedee Pearson took third place individually at the 5A championships in her final high school tournament at Glendale Golf Course in Salt Lake City on Tuesday.
"It's great to see girls really come to love golf and to want to play it, and for it to be a part of their lives — to be part of my life," Brandon Pearson said. "I'm glad that they're able to participate and kind of feel just what golf can do for you."
Pearson has another daughter, Makenzie, who is a freshman, so he's "roped in for a little while" as the Wildcats look to turn the inaugural title into a run.
Kennedee Pearson led the Wildcats with a 2-over-par 74 in both rounds of the two-day state championship, and Woods Cross had the lowest team score both days to win it all by seven strokes over Bonneville, who in turn beat third place Skyline by three strokes.
The runner-up Lakers were led by individual champion Whitni Johnson, who was the only golfer to finish under par in both rounds for a four-stroke win over Salem Hills' Navy Hubbs. The junior finished in fourth place at last year's championship, with Bonneville also finishing fourth in the 2024 team leaderboard.
"It feels so unreal, like I can't believe I just won it, but it's been so fun," Johnson said. "I think we can do it next year (as a team) for sure, and yeah, I hope to win again."
Hubbs gave Johnson a run for her money with a five-stroke improvement from round one to round two, including going 1-under-par to Johnson's 1-over-par on the front nine holes Tuesday. Johnson birdied four times over the back nine, however, and bogeyed just once to seal her first-place finish.
