Lakeland's Bayley wins 4A title in playoff

BLACKFOOT - When Lakeland High sophomore Derek Bayley stepped onto the tee box on the first hole of a three-way playoff to determine the state 4A boys golf medalist Tuesday, he knew his chances were good.

After his tee shot on the par-4 first hole went down the fairway and his approach shot from 158 yards just lipped out for an eagle - it turned out to be a great day for Bayley.

Bayley sunk a 5-foot putt for a birdie, then watched as Tyler Fredrickson of Shelley parred and Kyle Miley of Twin Falls bogeyed the playoff hole to earn state medalist honors at Blackfoot Golf Course.

“I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I’d be,” said Bayley of the playoff. “Those other guys were. I watched one of them have to towel his hands off, so I thought I had an advantage. I guess I just hit a few more good shots than they did.”

Bayley, who shot a 72 on Tuesday for a 4-under 140, is the first player from Lakeland to win a state title since Corey Rippee won it back in 1995.

“He’s competed hard all year,” Lakeland coach Mario Maddy said. “There was just some putting things today, or he could have ran away with it.”

Sitting at 2-over through 13 holes on Tuesday, Bayley eagled the 14th hole to get back into contention.

“I absolutely killed my drive,” Bayley said. “That hole really got me back into the tournament.”

Lakeland senior Chelsea Bayley — Derek’s sister — finished eighth in the girls tournament.

Twin Falls’ boys repeated as team champs. Bishop Kelly won the girls title.

At Blackfoot Golf Course

Par 72

TEAM SCORES — 1, Twin Falls 285-294—579. 2, Middleton 306-297—603. 3, Shelley 302-302—604. 4, Century 310-306—616. 5, Bishop Kelly 311-307—618. 6, Columbia 315-313—628. 7, Hillcrest 319-312—631. 8, Moscow 319-313—632. 9, Canyon Ridge 335-339—674.

TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS — 1, Derek Bayley, Lakeland, 68-72—140 (won playoff). 2, Tyler Fredrickson, Shelley, 69-71—140. 3, Kyle Miley, Twin Falls, 69-71—140. 4, Braxton Miller, Middleton, 77-68—145. 5, Taylor Judy, Bishop Kelly, 75-70—145. 6, Alec Perkins, Twin Falls, 72-74—146. 7, Conner Meyerhoeffer, Twin Falls, 72-74—146. 8, Matthew Frank, Twin Falls, 72-75—147. 9, Will Higham, Shelley, 75-73—148. 10, Greg Law, Columbia, 75-74—149.

LAKELAND — Derek Bayley 68-72—140.

TEAM SCORES — 1, Bishop Kelly 347-337-684; 2, Twin Falls 348-349-697. 3, Moscow 370-364-734. 4, Century 379-381-760. 5, Madison 417-407-824. 6, Middleton 433-432-865. 7, Hillcrest 443-426-869. 8, Wood River 473-443-916.

TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS — 1, Kati Greear, Moscow, 81-76—157. 2, Taylor Anderson, Moscow, 79-81—160. 3, Katherine Reed, Twin Falls, 83-79—162. 4, Haley Nist, Bishop Kelly, 80-84—164. 5, Sydney Lee, Twin Falls, 83-82—165. 6, Katie Keller, Bishop Kelly, 87-81—168; 7, Kindall Murie, Bishop Kelly, 87-83—170. 8, Chelsea Bayley, Lakeland, 84-86-170. 9, Jennie Williams, Wood River, 90-84—174. 10 (tie), Hannah Drake, Century, 91-84—175, Lexi Oropeza, Caldwell, 84-91—175.

LAKELAND — Chelsea Bayley 84-86-170.