by Marianne Gasaway
The Clear Lake girls golf team came up a little short of their season goal to win back-to-back titles. The Lions finished third at the 3A State Golf Tournament played at Pheasant Ridge Golf Course in Cedar Falls May 25-26. Gilbert captured the 3A title with a score of 653. Dubuque Wahlert was runner-up with a 672 and Clear Lake finished third with a score of 676.
Clear Lake sisters Rebecca DeLong, a senior, and Meghan DeLong, a junior, placed second and third respectively.
The Lions were seven strokes back heading into day two of the tournament, but they were confident, according to Coach Colby Andrews.
“We had the luxury of a come-from-behind win last year, so we knew it was possible. I also felt confident because we shot a good score on day one, with Meghan DeLong struggling in her opening round,” said Andrews.
Meghan, shot an 84-day one and was struggling on the greens, leaving her in 14th place as an individual. Meanwhile, Rebecca came flying out the gates with an astonishing opening round of 73, which was one over.
“She was just on from the first hole,” said Andrews. “She was hammering her driver and hitting fairways and greens all day. She had multiple edge-burning birdie putts that barely missed.” She was in second place individually after the first round.
Senior Macey Holck also played very well on day one. She carded an 86 with smart, consistent golf. She capped off the day by birding her final hole, draining a six-foot putt.
Meagan Paine was the final scorer on day one for Clear Lake. The senior played well, but had a couple of holes that got the best of her, according to her coach. She finished her day one with a birdie chip in. Seniors Annika Nelson and Lily James came in with scores of 101 and 116 for the Lions. Both golfers had one specific hole that hurt their round.
“With five seniors playing their last high school tournament, I wanted them to go out and have fun on their second round— take it one hole at a time and don’t put too much pressure on yourself,” said Coach Andrews.
On day two, both sisters came out firing. Meghan tripled her first hole on day one and on day two she was two strokes better with a bogey. She came back and birdied the second hole.
She was playing like she had nothing to lose on day two and it showed when finished with a -2 under-par round of 70, vaulting her from 14th place all the way to finishing in third place individually.
“She had her confidence back from the start. This is the second time I have seen her this year have a bad day and come out the next tournament and shoot the round of the year. This was Meghan’s lowest round ever recorded and for her to do that at day two of State when we needed it was pretty incredible to watch and coach,” said Andrews.
Rebecca was laser focused on the final day of the tourney.
“Rebecca, for these two days in all the years I have coached her, was as confident as I have ever seen her,” said Andrews. “She knew it was going to be hard to replicate what she did on Thursday, but she did her best. She had to scramble a lot more on day two, the driver wasn’t as straight, but she was smoking her irons still. She ended up shooting 75 on day two and four-over for the entire tournament, finishing second. I was so happy to see her go out the way she did playing great golf for both days. She has typically struggled the first day in the past two years.”
Macey Holck shot 94 on day two and was 27th overall.
“Macey has been rock solid in the third spot all year for us. She didn’t have her best final round, but she battled hard all-day. She just had a few more double bogeys than she did on day one,” said Andrews.
The final scorer for day two was Annika Nelson, with a 98. It was the first time she has broken 100 and put her in 55th place overall.
Meagan Paine came in with a 103, placing her 56th, and Lily James improved 10 strokes with a 106 on the final day to place 64th.
“I know it was not the ending these seniors had hoped for, but they have accomplished so much these past three seasons,” said Andrews. “I refuse to look at live scoring during rounds, but I thought we were doing okay with both sisters going low. It was evident when I walked and helped Rebecca with her final shot before the green that we had lost. When I got to the back of the green with the other girls the emotions had already started. We shot great rounds back-to-back days and lost. Sometimes in golf, just as in life, you just get beat and you have to tip your hat to the teams that beat you. Gilbert and Dubuque Wahlert put great rounds together on day two to get first and second. I thought my team played extremely well. It just wasn’t enough on the given day.
“I am so proud of these seniors, it is going to be hard to replace the talent and experience of these five girls. They are leaving a winning tradition behind. They helped add three conference titles, three Regional championships, and three State qualifying teams, including a State championship in 2022, and two third place finishes, all the while racking up over 170 wins in the past three seasons. This is the winningest class of seniors in my tenure as head coach. These numbers are quite astonishing and will be hard to replicate going forward, but I hope all these seniors understand they help set the standard of what to achieve for the program going forward. I wish them all the best luck at college and will sincerely miss working with them.”
