Gibsonburg’s Leyerle closes career as state runner-up

By: 
J. Patrick Eaken

Gibsonburg senior Sydney Leyerle closed her prep golf career shooting a 3-over par 71-72—143 at the Ohio State University Gray Course to finish as Division II state runner-up.

“Everything went well the whole round. I think the best part was my irons, but for the most point I was pretty consistent,” Leyerle said. “At the end of the day, usually my driving has been my best part, but my irons have been good recently.”

She said her driving helped set up for birdies on par fours, but her short game helped seal the deal. She also nailed a couple long putts.

“I was pretty excited. It was the best I’ve ever done. Of course, it would have been more exciting to finish first but I was just happy to have played well,” Leyerle said.

Leyerle was impressed by the OSU course and the conditions, but said, “It wasn’t super difficult.” That is easy for her to say.

She was five strokes behind the champion, Shaker Heights Laurel golfer Jami Morris, who was an incredible 2-under par 68-70—138.

Leyerle finished one stroke ahead of defending state champion Kyleigh Dull, a Lakota senior and friend who shot 73-71—144 to finish third. Seventy-two girls qualified for the D-II state meet, so coming out among the top three was a good showing for Leyerle and Dull, who has family living in the eastern Maumee Bay community and plans to golf at Eastern Michigan University.

At last year’s D-II state tournament Dull shot a three-under par 70-67—137 to win the state championship and Leyerle shot an 8-over par 72-76—148 to finish in eighth place individually among 71 golfers competing. Leyerle felt she could have done better and made up for it this year.

However, Gibsonburg coach Brent Liskai could not make the trip to Columbus this year because of a family issue, so coach Mark Sworden went down with her.

Leyerle is the Alan Miller Jewelers All-Press Girls Golfer of the Year for the fourth time in her high school career. The Press may have to search far and wide for someone to replace her after she graduates. Liskai knew he had a special golfer when she showed up her freshman season.

“Sydney works constantly on her golf and has a tremendous work ethic.  She is an extremely driven person and has been a rock for our golf program. Each year she has improved and I couldn’t be more proud of her,” Liskai said.

Leyerle has already signed to golf collegiately at Indiana Wesleyan University for coach Kyle Bloom.

“I really like the school — it’s very nice. I really like the golf coach and the whole feeling from the team. It gives me a feeling like a family and I think I will really like that. I’ll definitely miss golfing in high school,” Leyerle said.

Leyerle began golfing at age 5 under the tutelage of her father, Marc, and she played in her first competitive tournament at the age of 7. She still loves the game despite all the years competing in youth tournaments and high school golf.

This year, especially, she found solace in her golf game, which she says helped her focus.

“I just try to focus on myself and not worry about anything else that is going on. I have been playing it my whole life. It’s a support — I like playing to calm myself down,” Leyerle said. 

“If I’m having a bad week, I’ll go out and play by myself. Especially with the whole COVID thing going on, it’s a place where I can be where I feel normal. It’s like, ‘things are good,’ and it helps me get out if I’m having a bad week or something, I’ll calm down and relax.”

 

Greenhill boys Golfer of Year

Like Liskai, Woodmore boys coach Rodger Jimison knew he had something special when golfer Danny Greenhill showed up his freshman year. So did the other coaches, like NBC Dean of Coaches Mike Gardner.

However, Jimison has seen Greenhill’s game evolve over the years.

“At the beginning, it was his short game. I saw him during his freshman year get up and down — I mean, incredible recovery shots,” Jimison said. “Then, he grew like six or more inches taller and just became bigger and stronger. So, everything matured. He did a lot of summer tournaments. He worked all year round pretty much, except during hockey season (plays goalie for Fremont high school club team).”

Greenhill said he actually grew from 5-foot-7 to 6-1, which gave him the power to eventually hit drives 330 to 340 yards. But it brought other issues, like “every year you had to change your swing.”

Jimison said coaching Greenhill was a breeze.

“It was very easy. He was very knowledgeable. I knew his freshman year that he was going to be something special,” Jimison said.

Greenhill was the only local golfer to qualify for state, reaching the D-III tournament at NorthStar Golf Course. He shot 85-83—168 to tie for 30th place among 72 golfers. He is the All-Press Boys Golfer of the Year. 

Greenhill has already been in touch with schools about golfing collegiately but has made no decision yet.

“He didn’t focus on that. His focus was to get where he got to,” Jimison said. “He accomplished a lot of things — he had two runners-up in the NBC and the NBC Player of the Year.”

Accolades aside, Greenhill says he would like to have a few of this year’s events back if he could.

“We got co-champions in our league, but the other team came from behind and got us (at league tournament), which was kind of disappointing. It’s not the way we thought it would end, but you can’t really complain,” Greenhill said.

“Then, our team missed going to state by four shots, so that was a little disappointing. The team fell a little short of our goals — that’s all. And, I went to state but I didn’t really play that well, but it was still a lot of fun. The entire week I didn’t have any birdies. I’ve played tougher (courses), it was just not my week at all. I didn’t have anything going. I just made a lot of really good par saves, other than that I was just kind of scrambling.”

Greenhill, who was NBC Player of the Year as a sophomore and runner-up the last two years, shot 44-38—82 for the Wildcats at the league tournament at the appropriately named Green Hills Golf Course in Clyde, where he had shot a 69 earlier in the year. Genoa and Woodmore shared NBC boys golf co-championships, but it was the Comets’ fourth straight and first in seven years for the Wildcats. Genoa was led by senior Tommy Giles, who just missed qualifying for the D-II state tournament. Woodmore won three of four nine-hole league shootouts, but Genoa won the league tournament.

to even the final accumulated score at 44 points each.

Now, Greenhill moves onto another of his favorite sports.

“I start hockey this weekend, actually,” Greenhill said. “That will be quite a change. I haven’t played hockey in a few months.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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