Greenlee The Great

AMES — There wasn’t a whole lot of separation between Lynnville-Sully sophomore Greenlee Smock and Edgewood-Colesburg senior Madeline Streicher during the Class 1A Iowa High School State Girls Golf Championships.

The two golfers were tied after the first 18 holes and remained close even after the first nine holes during the final round on Wednesday at Ames Golf & Country Club.

In the end, Smock used a distinct advantage early in the back nine, held off Streicher in the final three holes and claimed her first individual state championship.

“It feels good. It felt better today. I hit it better for sure,” Smock said. “My short game was a lot better today. And I think it was the difference for me.”

Smock is the first L-S Hawk to win a girls’ state golf title. She carded back-to-back rounds of 77 to defeat Streicher by two shots.

Streicher, who will play for Simpson College next season, shot a 79 on Wednesday to finish second. Annie Burns of Algona Garrigan was six shots back of Streicher in third.

Smock shot a 154 over the course of the two days and 36 holes. She had 10 pars and two birdies on Wednesday. Her first round included eight pars and three birdies.

Streicher held a two-shot advantage over Smock through seven holes but Smock gained a shot on No. 8 and it stayed a one-stroke difference after 10 holes.

Smock closed the gap and took the lead with one-shot advantages on No. 11, No. 12 and No. 13. She went up four shots on No. 15 but lost two strokes on No. 16.

The two golfers split the final two holes, giving Smock the state title by two shots.

Smock was one of the first golfers to start Round 2 and had to wait about 2.5 hours for the final scores to come in.

The wait was worth it.

“We tried to check the live scoring during the wait and it’s hard not to look at that during the round,” Smock said. “Waiting after the round was over was tough. But we got through it. It feels good.”

Smock said she didn’t expect to win a state title in her first prep season until the regional finals when she shot a 73. That was when she knew she’d have a shot.

Smock’s first state tournament started out slow. She was 5-over-par through five holes but recovered to shoot 1-over-par the rest of the way. Her and Streicher both shot 77 on Tuesday.

“I started out rough. My first few holes didn’t really go well,” Smock said. “My coaches just told me to take a deep breath because there was a lot of golf left. That’s why there’s 18 holes. You aren’t going to win it in the first three holes.”

L-S golf coach Jeff Knouse felt good after round one. He expected his young golfer to have nerves and figured she would be past it for the second 18 holes.

“As a sophomore, first time playing state golf, there was going to be nerves,” Knouse said. “It was no surprise that we saw some holes like that early on. But she was able to get a few birdies, too.”