Girls golf team ready to compete for State title

by Marianne Gasaway

The Clear Lake girls golf team made no secret of the fact that a State Championship was their goal this season.  The Lions are on the brink of making it happen this week.

Clear Lake will compete for a Class 3A State title Thursday and Friday at River Valley Golf Course in Adel.  They are expected to battle for the State title with defending champion Gilbert.  The teams have consistently led their class in scoring averages, separated by less than one-tenth of a point in the combined (nine and 18-hole) adjusted average score.  The Lions averaged 177.08, while Gilbert was 177.92.

“The team has been trending in a really good direction all season. We are going to state for back-to-back seasons and playing some phenomenal golf of late. We just need to keep the train rolling for two more rounds at State this week. State is at the same course as last year River Valley Golf Course in Adel,” said Coach Colby Andrews.  “Last year we got third place with a lot of underclassmen. We returned all but one player from that team and we have played a lot better than last year’s team.”

The Lions won the Regional final played Wednesday, May 18, at Veteran’s Memorial in Clear Lake.  They were the clear winners. They topped runner-up West Delaware by 41 strokes, 321 to 364. Both teams advance to State.

“We played the best golf I have witnessed as Clear Lake’s coach. It was a lot of fun watching all the girls play,” said Jennings. 

The Lions also had three of the top six individuals, as well. 

Meghan DeLong was the Regional champ, shooting 75.  On the back nine she shot even par and just missed a birdie putt on 18 which would have made her -1 on the back.  Rebecca DeLong got second place shooting 78.

“She just never got herself into any trouble. Every time she missed it was just off the fairway or barely missed the green,” commented the coach.  Macey Holck took sixth place with her lowest round ever, carding an 83.  All three were named to the All-District Team.

Jaden Ainley came in just behind Holck and was seventh with an 85. Meagan Paine shot under 100 for consecutive meets with a 95. Lily James just barely shot over a hundred with 103, which the coach noted is two solid rounds in a row for her, as well. 

“We have had a ton of growth this season. Macey and Jaden have really stepped up this year and played some great golf from the start. Before this year neither of them had ever broken 90. Both girls have shot 85 or lower more than once this season,” said Jennings.  “The DeLong sisters obviously have been a mainstay for the team going back and forth between who wins tournaments. Both Meghan and Rebecca are playing some great golf right now. Meagan Paine has started to come on of late, she has started playing a lot more consistently specifically her ball-striking and scoring. This is Lily James’s first season on varsity, she has improved so much from last season to this season. She had been shooting right around 55 for nine holes until recently, she has broken 50 on at least one nine on multiple occasions. One of the goals of this past season was to play in some bigger tournaments with bigger schools to help prepare them for state. We played in three 18-hole tournaments down south this year with mostly Des Moines schools. In these tournaments, we got second twice and won one. These were all at harder golf courses than we typically have seen in past seasons. Coming into the season I knew we had the capability to be a really special team and playing in some tougher tournaments has really helped us become a stronger team.”