The Miners boys golf squad will be chasing a repeat state title this season with a new leader in Head Coach Jenny MacDougall. MacDougall takes over the program from longtime boys and girls head coach George Murphy, now the assistant principal at Park City High School. Murphy will still lead the girls team in the spring.
MacDougall doesn’t come into the role blind, having built the Miners junior varsity program from scratch five years ago. She helped develop many of the current varsity players and has worked closely alongside Murphy during his tenure.
MacDougall has also been a competitive amateur golfer all her life. She said she thinks her experience playing and coaching can help her keep the program right where Murphy left it. MacDougall said it feels good to be a woman coaching amongst a group of male coaches in the boys sport.
“Golf has been a part of my life for my entire life,” MacDougall said. “When I moved to Utah in 2018 I was golfing and immersing myself in that community. … I couldn’t have asked for a better five years with the JV kids.”
MacDougall didn’t refer to building the JV program as a challenge of any kind, and said she hopes the JV program she built will continue to supplement the varsity program as the years progress. Now, she’s excited to maintain the varsity program.
MacDougall said she feels honored that Park City trusted her with continuing the program’s legacy. Their 16 team state titles are the most of any program at the school. MacDougall said the transition from coach to coach has appeared seamless thus far because of her experience around the team over the years.
“We’ll continue to work on the mental game and build on that camaraderie that’s already there,” MacDougall said. “We’ve got a lot of great talent this year, so hoping for another go at state.”
The Miners finished fourth in their first competition of 2025 at Murray on Wednesday. The team shot 305, with winning Highland shooting 278. Park City has four new regional foes to contend with this year, including Highland, due to realignment.
Sophomore Hudson Darmstandler led the Miners Wednesday, shooting 74. Fellow sophomore Dane Hays shot 75. Park City is replacing standout Rawson Hardy, a 2024 individual state champion, who graduated early in 2025 to go golf at Georgia Tech. MacDougall believes her bunch will round into strong form as the season wears on.
The Miners will tee up this upcoming Wednesday at Mountain Dell Golf Course in Salt Lake City. They will have one regional match a week, and the 4A state tournament will be in early-October at Lakeside Golf Course in West Bountiful.
“The players that we have are all incredibly talented and very competitive,” MacDougall said. “The boys really brought some of their their best play, and I know that we’ll continue to settle in as the season goes on.”
MacDougall sees herself helping to grow the game amongst junior players long term in Park City.
“I foresee myself continuing the legacy that George and those past players have worked so hard to build,” MacDougall said. “I’d like to continue to work towards this being one of the winningest programs in the state. … I think I can coach as well as the rest of them.”
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