A sk the question and you shall re- ceive perhaps one of the most astounding answers you’ve ever heard. So, Coach Grant Walker, when is the last time your Gil- bert girls golf team lost in the regular season? Wait for it ... May 7, 2019, comes the reply from Walker after he taps a few keys on his computer to pull up the exact date. A six-shot loss to Nevada in a quadrangular meet at the Ames Golf and Country Club, to be exact. Britta Snyder wasn’t in the lineup that day. Had she been, well, let’s just say it’s a guarantee that loss wouldn’t have happened. Still ... that’s almost six years since the Tigers felt the sting of defeat in the regular season. And, really, there are only a few seniors on the roster that under- stand what it’s like to lose on the golf course at all. It’s only occurred once in their time with the program and that happened at the 2022 Class 3A state meet. Over the past two seasons, Gilbert has amassed a stagger- ing mark of 141-0, highlighted by back-to-back state cham- pionships. The four-year record will make you whistle too; 275- 2, with back-to-back state runner-up finishes in 2021 and
has happened in the past and celebrate those successes. But Walker doesn’t want to give the impression the program’s suc- cess is a thing of the past. The truth is, he thinks the Tigers can contend again in 2025. “We had a couple girls who could be on the varsity this year come and watch us at state last year, and one of them said to me, ‘When those seniors leave, we have no chance of doing that,’” Walker said. “And I looked at her and said, ‘What makes you think we won’t be right back here a year from today?’ “I think we can be right there at the end again this year.” Yes, losing four ultra-talented seniors creates a crater in the lineup, but Gilbert does return not one, but two of the best players in 3A, and they happen to look exactly alike. Identical twins Ava and Ella Lohrbach, juniors and the younger sisters of Eden Lohr- bach, have been scoring members on both of the state championship teams in 2023 and 2024. A season ago, Ava strung together consistent rounds of 77-77 (154 total) to finish fourth as an individual at state. Ella wasn’t happy with a Day 1 81, but rebounded to blister the course for a Day 2 75 (156 total) that put her 10th on the leaderboard.
2022. Walker is equally wowed when he sits and marinates on the accomplishments. It’s not normal, he knows that, which is why he takes none of it for granted. “You’ve got to step back and appreciate what we had,” Walker said. “You could make the case that crew last year is maybe the best team that has ever played together in the state of Iowa, and obviously that’s not normal. Just to say that sentence and for it to have some truth to it is pretty unbe- lievable.” The 2024 Tigers were as dominant as any Iowa team in any sport, boys or girls, throughout last school year. Led by three-time individual state champion and University of Ne- braska recruit Eden Lohrbach,
along with fellow talented sen- iors Macy Underwood, Josie Dukes, and Haley Loonan, Gil- bert set the all-time 3A scoring mark at the state tournament with a two-day total of 608 to beat runner-up Dubuque Wahlert by 43 strokes. The team’s Day 2 score of 299 was the first sub-300 round in the history of the girls state tourna- ment, and only West Des Moines Valley’s 36-hole total of 604 in 2021 bests the Tigers’ overall score. Walker is quick to point out that Valley’s score came at the par-70 Otter Creek Golf Course in Ankeny, while Gilbert’s 608 was at the par-72 Pheasant Ridge Golf Course in Cedar Falls. If you know golf, then you know that matters. It’s good to reflect on what
20 GAME ON | SPRING 2025
SPRING 2025 | GAME ON 21
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