6A girls golf: Saydie Wagner's 68 paces Lone Peak to first-ever 4-peat

TAYLORSVILLE — Midway through the back nine of the second day of the 6A girls' golf state tournament, the race for medalist shrank down to a three-way pull.

Two of them wore the same Lone Peak insignia.

Saydie Wagner shot a two-day total of 6-under-par 138 for medalist honors, and two-time defending state medalist Aadyn Long added 3-under 141 as the Knights cruised to a fourth consecutive championship Tuesday at Meadow Brook Golf Course.

Mikaila Lieu and Adley Nelson both added a top-five finish for Lone Peak, with both surrounding Weber's Remi Rawlings on the leaderboard. Morgan Thomas was 14th to round out the Knights' scoring for a two-day total of 6-under 570.

Bingham finished second at 646, followed by Corner Canyon, Farmington and Herriman.

"I was hitting good shots in, but everything started dropping for me," Wagner said. "I got a little bit lucky on a few shots, but I'll take that.

"I was very stressed out," she added. "But it came together, and I made putts."

Wagner took a two-shot lead after 18 holes Monday, the only golfer to shoot under par at 2-under to help the Knights to a 32-stroke lead over Bingham.

Long was one of three golfers two shots back, along with Weber's Rawlings. But Wagner's run in the second round for her first individual title was even more of a long shot.

The junior with interest from BYU and Utah Valley, among others, bogeyed four of her first six holes before dropping her first birdie on the par-4, 296-yard seventh. Somewhere around there, amid the fairways or walks up to the green at Meadowbrook, head coach Derek Farr caught Wagner's attention.

The message was simple — but it was exactly what she needed.

"They definitely came over and just said, hey, you need to get your shiz together," said Wagner, who finished second as a freshman and third as a sophomore — both times behind Long. "This was not what we were supposed to do.

"I was kind of pissed off, kind of sad. But I knew I had to turn it around. Then I made a birdie, and it started looking good for me. I made a good up-and-down for par, and then just went to go get it."

That turned into an eagle on the par-5, 404-yard ninth hole, a spark that propelled Wagner to back-to-back-to-back birdies to open the back. In all, the Utah junior golf standout shot 6-under from 9 through 15 — a stretch that helped her pull away for good, even as Long birdied the final two holes to finish three shots off the lead.

"I played good golf today, but Saydie just played better," said Long, who has signed with BYU where she will join her older sister Berlin. "I'm happy for her … and it's good for our team, too."

It's the first time Long has finished second since 2022, when she was runner-up to big sister Berlin as a freshman. Since then, she went back-to-back in 6A to pace a run of four consecutive state titles for the Knights.

Even Tuesday, the senior didn't fall short of an individual title. Wagner just went and took it, which is how the duo says they play each other in practice rounds: competitive, but supportive.

"I told Aadyn I'd bet my house on her, and I still would bet my house on her," Farr said. "She's a tremendous person and golfer. She didn't lose it; Saydie went off with her play.

"Each year, it gets a little bit harder to lose kids (to graduation)," he added. "It's no different with this group. They carried on a nice tradition for us."

Long will play in several Utah junior golf tournaments through the summer before enrolling at BYU in the fall, where she'll join head coach Carrie Roberts' team along with former Nevada junior amateur champion and 2024 World Stars Junior Golf Championship runner-up Nya Palmer after leading the Knights to the first four-peat in Utah's highest classification since Sirene Blair powered Bingham to four consecutive championships from 2010-13.

"I kind of got emotional after I walked off the 18th green," Long recalled. "But it wasn't because I was sad; I was just so grateful for the four years I've had on this team, and for everything. I just felt a lot of gratitude for my coaches, for the girls on the team, for my parents and everything."

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