By BUTCH HARMON
Repeating as a champion in any sport is never easy, and for Okemos junior golfer Elle Nichols, repeating as the Division 2 state individual champion was anything but.
After battling the cold, wind, and rain on the first day of the state tournament at The Meadows Golf Course on the campus of Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Nichols had to survive a three-person playoff to claim her second consecutive state individual title.
Nichols also had to come from behind to win the title, as she was three strokes off the lead Friday after carding an 81 in the adverse weather conditions.
Nichols made her charge on Saturday as she fired a 77 to finish with a two-day total of 158. She then had to face a pair of familiar foes in the playoffs, as East Lansing’s Kristyn Crippen and Mona Shores’ Hailey Hrynewich also finished with 158 totals. At last year’s state finals, Crippen, who plays in the CAAC Blue with Nichols, finished second to Nichols.
The three players went out to the par 4, 18th hole and began the playoff. On Nichols’ second shot, her ball fell not only short of the green but also landed in the tall grass hazard in front of the hole. Nichols, however, came up with a big out shot, as she blasted the ball out of the tall grass and to the back of the green. She then just missed a 40-foot putt but tapped in for a bogey to win the playoff.
“I just wanted to hit it out of the gunk and get it on the green somewhere and have a chance at par,” Nichols said. “I wanted to get out and get up and down and hope for the best.”
She did just that and edged out Crippen and Hrynewich. “It was real exciting,” Nichols said. “I’ve been here before so I had the confidence that I could do it.”
The second consecutive state title caps a memorable year for Nichols, who won last year’s title with a 157 total. She started the season in high gear and never let off the throttle. She shot a 65 to win the Lakewood Invitational and break the Willow Wood Course record by four strokes.
“Winning two in a row is a great accomplishment,” said Okemos coach Dan Stolz. “This year she had to do it in a playoff against a couple of great golfers. She is used to competing against Kristyn from competing in the CAAC Blue, and the Mona Shores player is a strong player. Elle won it by not even playing her best. She struggled with her putting. She had eight or nine three-putts and if she eliminated some of those she would’ve won easier, but she is a great competitor who finds a way to win almost all the time.”
Nichols’ victory helped her and her teammates to a third-place finish as a team at the finals. Okemos finished with a team score of 358, third behind four-time state champion Mona Shores with 341 and second-place Battle Creek Lakeview, which totaled 354.
“Every week we just got better and better as a team,” Nichols said. “We improved so much throughout the season.”
Senior Katy Hollis finished with a 182 total for the tournament, while senior Sydney Williams shot a 185, and senior Marie Lazar a 188 for the weekend.
“We did a nice job as a team,” Stolz said. “We were hoping to get second but we got third. We knew Mona Shores would be hard to beat because they had everyone back. We had a chance for second and we almost did it.”