Highland made the cut at the UHSAA 4A boys golf state tournament, sitting seventh at 320 after Day 1 at Palisade State Park on Wednesday, Oct. 14.
Junior Reece Griffin led the Rams with a 76, placing him inside the top 20 individually. Griffin's round put him seven strokes behind individual leader Luke Christensen of Desert Hills, who fired a 3-under 69.
Highland's team total left the Rams 26 strokes behind first-place Ridgeline but nine strokes inside the top-10 cutline. Six teams missed the cut, including Region 10 rival Park City, which dropped from seventh to 13th after its top golfer was disqualified for an incorrect scorecard, the Deseret News reported.
The disqualification cost Park City 17 strokes and opened a spot for Orem, which squeezed past Judge Memorial by one stroke to claim the final qualifying position at 329.
Defending champion Ridgeline controls the team race at 294, with three golfers in the top six.
Crimson Cliffs sits second at 300. Dixie is third at 303, and East, the Region 10 champion, is fourth at 305. East sophomore Ben Wright shot a 70 on Wednesday to sit second individually, one stroke behind Christensen.
Highland entered the state tournament as the third-place team in Region 10 during the regular season, posting a 303.0 stroke average behind East (294.0) and Park City (302.0), according to the Deseret News' region recap from Sept. 21. Highland's Noah Nickish shot a 73 at the Sept. 17 region tournament at Bonneville Golf Course, finishing seventh among individual scores that week.
Day 2 tees off Thursday, Oct. 15, at Palisade State Park, where Highland will try to move up from seventh in the final team standings.
