How Gilbert set a new 3A record in rolling to a repeat state title in girls golf

CEDAR FALLS — After toying with its competition all season, the Gilbert girls golf team took it to another level during the Class 3A girls state golf tournament Thursday and Friday at the Pheasant Ridge Golf Course.

Gilbert set a new 3A record with a team score of 608 over 36 holes to beat Wahlert Catholic by 43 strokes for its second-consecutive state championship. The Tigers were especially dominant on Friday, becoming the first team in state history to shoot under 300 over 18 holes in a single day of state tournament competition by tying their school 18-hole mark with a 299.

“That 299 is a big number for us today,” said Gilbert coach Grant Walker. “You couldn’t ask for a better ending for these seniors. You couldn’t even write that story.”

After placing second in 3A during the 2021 and 2022 seasons, Gilbert got over the hump and won a 3A state title in 2023 after shooting a 653 at Pheasant Ridge to down Wahlert Catholic by 19 strokes for the title. With five of their top six back from that team, Gilbert knew it had the potential to do something special in 2024.

But not even the Tiger senior quartet of Eden Lohrbach, Macy Underwood, Josie Dukes and Haley Loonan could have envisioned how perfect their final year was going to be.

More: How the the Gilbert girls golf seniors plan to make the most of their final season

They capped a perfect record in dual meets over their four-year careers, won the Raccoon River Conference meet by over 100 strokes, broke 300 in an 18-hole meet for the first time in school history with a 299 at the 3A Region 2 meet in Atlantic. They saved their best for last with the best state meet performance among 3A teams in history.

“I expected us to do well, but I never expected it to go as well as it has been,” said Dukes. “It’s just been a lot of fun.”

Nebraska women's golf signee Eden Lohrbach was the linchpin of Gilbert's amazing run.

Lohrbach won her third individual state title in four years on Friday. She shot a 5-under-par 139 with a 69 on Thursday and 70 on Friday to take 3A medalist by eight strokes over Clear Lake's Meghan DeLong.

Out of 36 holes over the two days, Lohrbach birdied 11 and shot par on 19.

“I think it’s awesome,” said Lohrbach. “I put in a lot of work, I know this team has, and it’s just a lot of fun to do this with them.”

During the 2023 3A state meet Lohrbach shot a 1-under 143 to take medalist by five strokes over DeLong. As a sophomore she lost a playoff to Newton's Rylee Heryford after they each shot a 149 at the River Valley Golf Course in Adel, and as a freshman Lohrbach carded a 149 at Adel to take medalist by two strokes over Washington's Kiki Bruner.

“She’s a generational talent,” Walker said. “She’s every bit as talented as any golfer I’ve ever watched. She’ll outwork everybody, I know that without a doubt. It’s been such a pleasure, and really and honor, to be able to coach her for this amount of time.”

Lohrbach's twin sisters Ava and Ella, both sophomores, each placed in the top 10 individually at the 2024 3A state meet.

Ava won a card-back for fourth over Lisbon's Kaylie Kelchen after they each shot a 154. Ella took 10th with a 156.

Macy Underwood took 14th with a 163 after shooting an 86 on Thursday and shaving nine strokes off that score on Friday. As well as she played on Friday, Underwood felt she left something out on the course.

“I’m kind of mad it wasn’t lower,” said Underwood. “It should’ve been lower. I started out a lot better today than I ended up finishing. I’m glad it was better than yesterday.”

Dukes took 20th with a 169 and senior Haley Loonan was 27th with a 172. Even though she was sixth in the team's individual scoring, Loonan was pivotal to Gilbert getting the record team score with a strong round of 82 on Thursday.

“It was awesome,” said Loonan. “It was a really good way to end my high school experience.”

More: How tremendous depth has the Gilbert girls golf team looking unbeatable

Walker was thrilled to see his four seniors — Eden Lohrbach, Underwood, Dukes and Loonan — go out on the highest note possible.

“All four of them worked so hard together for so many years,” Walker said. “To see it all come together on the last day of the state meet and show everybody in the state who they are and why they are the best team, it’s just really special.”

Gilbert girls golf will not be the same without that senior group. But the Lohrbach twins are anxious to take over for big sister and see if they can lead the Tigers back to state in 2025.

“It will be fun,” said Ella Lohrbach. “Even with this group of people leaving, there is still a good group of people coming in. It will be fun to see how they step up.”

Nevada girls take sixth in 3A

The Nevada girls golf team took sixth in 3A with a score of 707.

The Cubs cut 29 strokes off their 2023 state tournament score of 736 at Pheasant Ridge. That enabled them to move up two spots after placing eighth in 3A last season.

“I’m really proud of our team this year,” said Nevada senior Olivia Axmear. “Last year we felt like around top-five and we ended up eighth. I’m happy that we’re closer to the top this year.”

Axmear led Nevada by placing 13th individually with a 162. She shot a 78 on Thursday and 84 on Friday.

Even though she was not able to reach her goal of finishing in the top 10 individually, Axmear was pleased with how her senior season went. She finished a three-time individual state qualifier after never having played golf before her freshman season at Nevada.

“I’m happy I had a good senior year,” Axmear said. “I’m happy that I got this far.”

Reagan Schmidt placed 35th with a 178, Lauren Schmidt 40th with a 183, Mary Hensley 42nd with a 184, Mya Spykerman 47th with a 194 and Caitlin Johnson 64th with a 217 for the Cubs.

Final 3A team scores (36 holes): 1. Gilbert 309-299-608, 2. Wahlert Catholic 325-326-651, 3. Cedar Rapids Xavier 349-336-685, 4. West Delaware 352-346-698, 5. Solon 355-350-705, 6. Nevada 351-356-707, 7. (tie) Clear Lake 360-358-718 and Williamsburg 370-348-718, 9. Waverly-Shell Rock 360-367-727, 10. Clear Creek-Amana (Did not finish).

Individual 3A medal winners (36 holes): 1. Eden Lohrbach (Gilbert) 69-70-139, 2. Meghan DeLong (Clear Lake) 73-74-147, 3. Ava Kalb (Wahlert Catholic) 76-76-152, 4. Ava Lohrbach (Gilbert) 77-77-154, 5. Kaylie Kelchen (Lisbon) 77-77-154, 6. Halle Sobaski (Benton Community) 83-72-155, 7. Maria Riveros (Decorah) 79-76-155, 8. Mehar Julka (Xavier) 76-79-155, 10. Ella Lohrbach (Gilbert) 81-75-156.

Joe Randleman covers high school sports for the Ames Tribune. Contact him at jrandleman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JoeRandleman

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Record performance helps Gilbert cruise to repeat 3A girls golf title