Girls roar back and finish third at 3A State Golf Meet

(Above) Members of the Clear Lake girls golf team that competed in the Class 3A State Golf Meet included (L-R): Megan Blaha, Phoebe Nelson, Meagan Paine, Meghan DeLong, Macey Holck, Jaden Ainley and Rebecca DeLong.  -Submitted photo

by Marianne Gasaway

After a bit of a rough start, the Clear Lake girls found their footing at the Class 3A State Golf Meet held June 1-2 at River Valley Golf Course in Adel.   The Lions roared back from fifth place in the standings after day one to finish third overall in the 10-team field.

The top three finish mirrored the final team rankings made by the Iowa High School Golf Coaches Association heading into the State tourney.  As expected, Washington (70-1) claimed the title with a (340-335) 675.  Gilbert High School was runner-up with a score of (357-346) 703.  Gilbert’s Eden Lorhbach earned the individual title with a (76-73) 149.

Coach Colby Andrews described the first day of competition as  “a bit of a struggle as a team.”  The Lions shot 389, which was their worst score of the year.  Team leaders Meghan and Rebecca DeLong shot 83 and 87 respectively.  Phoebe Nelson came in with a 107. Jaden Ainley and Macey Holck shot 112s.  

“I honestly think as a team we were extremely nervous.  No one on this team has any experience at a golf state tournament,” said Coach Andrews.  “We left ourselves to get back in the top three leading into day two only being six strokes behind third place West Delaware.”

Starting day two the Lions were in fifth place, but only six strokes behind third place West Delaware.  The comeback would not be easy.

“This was a pretty difficult course with lots of danger,” said the coach. “The course had large greens with lots of undulation.  If you missed the fairway it penalized the players. The rough wasn’t long but it was very thick and grabbed the club heads.

With one round under their belts, the Lions were less intimidated in the second round.

“Day two was a lot of fun,” said Coach Andrews. “We were down 49 strokes to first place Washington; our goal was to get second place Gilbert, which had us down 32 strokes.  Worst case scenario, we wanted to walk away with third place. The girls came storming back shooting a team score of 356.”

The 33-stroke improvement put the Lions third, followed by Dubuque Wahlert (386-364) 750, West Delaware (383-374) 757, ADM (397-382) 779, Monticello (402-395) 797, Nevada (403-399) 802, Lisbon (402-410) 812 and Creston (413-411) 824.

As they did all season, sisters Meghan and Rebecca DeLong led the Lions.

Meghan, a freshman, finished in a tie for third place overall with a (83-78) 161.

“Meghan played somewhat steady on day one with her 83. She had one bad hole on her card which was a tough pin placement. This, in turn, caused her to take a triple bogey on the final hole,” said Coach Andrews. “She came out striping the ball on day two, hitting much more fairways than day one. She was consistent all day which allowed her to score well. She put herself in great positions off the tee and was able to get up and down a few more times. Third place is quite an amazing accomplishment for a freshman.”

Rebecca, who is a sophomore, came back from her worst round of the year to shoot 79 on day two and finish in a tie for seventh place overall with a (87-79) 166.

  “She hit 15 of 18 greens on the final day.  I was so proud of her, knowing the struggles from the day before where she couldn’t get anything going,” said Coach Andrews.  “For her to come back with a 79 is huge for her psychologically, not just for this year’s State meet, but she proved to herself she could prevail through adversity.

Jaden Ainley also came back strong on day two, carding 97. She finished tied for 43rd with (112-97) 209.  

“This was huge for our team score, with her improving 15 strokes from the previous day.  Jaden was able to string more consistent holes together and was able to come back and bogey a hole that got the best of her the day before,” said Coach Andrews.

The final score taken on day two was a 102 provided by Meagan Paine.

“I am really proud of Meagan. She struggled immensely on day one (shooting 124).  She wasn’t able to get the ball in air or get much going. We were able to work on some things out on the driving range before day two and she was able to get back to how she had been playing coming into the tournament,” said Andrews.

Phoebe Nelson was also on the course for the Lions, shooting a (107-108) 215.

“Overall, it was really special to watch all the girls battle back on day two and get themselves back in the top three,” said Andrews.  “It is a huge accomplishment to place in the top five, let alone the top three in the State Tournament. I couldn’t be more proud of all the girls this year.  The most exciting thing for myself is how young we are. Not only did we get third this year, but going into next year we only lose one piece of our current roster, Phoebe Nelson. My hope is that getting third this year provides motivation for next year to get even better. As a team we expect to be competing for state titles the next couple of years with a great core of girls on the current roster. I had a blast coaching the girls this season. They are a great group of kids and it doesn’t hurt that they are extremely talented.”

The Clear Lake team ended the year with a 50-5 record.