by Marianne Gasaway
The Clear Lake girls golf team wrapped up the dual North Central Conference Championship, along with winning the Tournament Conference Championship in dominating fashion Monday. The Lions hosted NCC Tournament at Legacy Golf Course at the 19 in Mason City (formerly the Mason City Country Club).
Clear Lake bested runner-up Iowa Fall-Alden by an astounding 62 strokes, 334-396. The remainder of the field was more than 73-strokes back.
“This group of seniors now has won every conference title possible, while losing their freshman year to COVID,” explained Coach Colby Andrews.
The DeLong sisters did their best to put things away early.
Rebecca DeLong came in with a front nine score of two-under and Meghan DeLong came in at even par at the turn. Macey Holck carded a 43 on the front and Meagan Paine shot 51.
Rebecca finished her stellar round off at even par 72, edging her sister out to become a two-time individual conference champion. Meghan came in second place with an incredible round of 73.
“This was just fun to watch and coach. This is the first time both girls have gone super low at the same meet. Most of the time when one sister shoots super low the other is in the upper 70’s or low 80’s, but today was just a spectacle. The ball striking by both girls put on display was insane,” said Andrews.
Macey Holck finished in fourth place overall, giving the Lions three All-Conference players. Holck shot a 91 and lost out on third place due to a card back.
Meagan Paine battled through a tough front nine and came back strong on the back and ended up shooting 98.
Also competing for the Lions was Annika Nelson (101) and Lily James (104).
“We have shot this low before (334), but this is our lowest 18-hole score not at Veterans Memorial in my tenure,” said Andrews. “We are trending in the right direction at the right time of year. We look to take our conference success into the postseason.
Today, (Thursday, May 11) the Lions travel to Charles City for their final nine hole dual meet of the year. They are slated to play in the Ballard Invitational May 15 before the Class 3A Region 1 meet in Storm Lake on Wednesday, May 17.
Triangular
On Monday, May 2, the Lions traveled to Iowa Falls and played at Meadow Hills Golf Course. Despite bad weather, the Lions shot 176 to finish 18-strokes ahead of Iowa Falls-Alden with 194. Hampton-Dumont-CAL carded a 228.
“The wind was really brutal Monday. It was blowing upwards of 30 mph with gusts well above that,” reported Coach Andrews. “I was happy the team played through the harsh conditions and put together a pretty solid round.”
Rebecca DeLong was the first-place medalist with a 39 and Meghan DeLong was the second-place medalist with a 43. Macey Holck had a great round of 44 and Meagan Paine had one bad hole and was still able to salvage a 50.
Quadrangular
On Thursday the team was at Spring Valley Golf Course to finish their final conference dual meet of the year against Algona, Humboldt, and Bishop Garrigan. The weather was beautiful and thankfully a lot less windy.
The girls played extremely well and shot a 170 to win the tournament. Algona came in second with a 207, Humboldt- 213, Garrigan 223.
“This course was a great test for the team since it is very challenging and different than a lot of courses we have seen throughout the year,” said Coach Andrews.
Meghan DeLong was the first place medalist with a score of 37 and in second was Rebecca DeLong with a 38.
Macey Holck was the Lions’ third scorer with a 47. “She just had one bad hole that hurt her score, otherwise she played incredibly well,” said the coach. The fourth scorer was newcomer Annika Nelson. She broke 50 for the first time and shot a 48.
“She has been playing some much improved golf over the last couple of weeks and she just keeps getting better,” said Andrews.
The Lions wrapped up the conference dual championship on the front nine of the NCC Tournament played Monday. St. Ed’s and Clear Lake’s score for the front nine counted as their dual meet for the year.
