The 2020 2A State Golf Championship was held this past weekend in Kemmerer at the Fossil Island Golf Course. Sixty 2A golfers from all over the state were in Kemmerer for the annual event. The course conditions were the best they have been in years and the golfers truly enjoyed playing the challenging layout of the Fossil Island course.

Weather on Friday was ideal, with warm temps and no wind early on. Saturday was another typical weather day in Wyoming with cool, windy and sometimes rainy conditions for most of the day.

The 2A championship for the boys was again won by Thermopolis for the third year in a row with a total of 735. Second went to Big Horn with a 754 two-day total. Third place was the host, the Kemmerer Rangers, at 779. Fourth place was Tongue River at 817. Sundance was next at 970, edging out Lusk, 972, for fifth place. Upton and Wright entered boys but did not have enough scores for the event.

The 2A girls event was won by Sundance for the second year in a row, edging out Lusk by just two strokes. Third and fourth was also decided by just two strokes as Upton got past Tongue River 724 to 726.

The individual state champion was, for the third year in a row, Hardy Johnson from Thermopolis. The Ranger boys were able to take sixth, seventh and eighth place. Blake Wood was sixth with a 189 total. Carter Wood, only a freshman, was seventh with a total score of 193. Eighth place went to Wade Hendrickson with a score of 195. Tate Pollard in his first state meet, finished 12th with 209. Nolin Antilla finished 15th with a 212 total.

“The meet for the Rangers was not their best performance of the year but the pressure of the state event and playing the local course in a much more challenging setup was a part of the higher scores,” golf coach Zem Hopkins said. “Our goal was to have every boy in the top ten and make all state. We just did not make that. We have four boys back for next year and they are a very talented group and again will make a run at the 2A title.”

The state meet was a great success for the Kemmerer golf course. The sixty players enjoyed Fossil Island Golf Course over the two days. This was made possible by golf course superintendent Ryan Franklin and his staff. They worked all year to make the course the best for this event. Luke Bergman and his staff in the club house did a great job of helping the event be a success.

J. R. Spears with Golf Galaxy contributed many items to the competitors to enhance their experience. Union Cellular provided many items for the state golfers that made their experience here in Kemmerer most memorable. The Kemmerer Mine contributed waters and range ball for the teams. The efforts of the sponsors and staff can not be measured. Thanks to them this was a successful event.