Grant Greazel was reminded of this Saturday afternoon at Des Moines Golf and Country Club, where the Marshalltown junior started the day three shots off the lead in the Class 4A State Tournament — in with a chance of taking the individual title.

But a missed birdie putt from five feet out on his first hole of the day (No. 10) set the tone for a frustrating afternoon, Greazel said.

“It started on my first hole of the day,” Greazel said. “I thought I hit the ball fine, my putting was just awful this weekend.”

Greazel shot a second-round 8-over-par 80 and was unable to get a birdie putt to drop, which he said sapped him of momentum. He recorded three bogeys and six pars on his first nine holes, bettering his 40 from Friday with a 39 — but he was helped by six straight holes with one putt, Bobcats head coach Lucas Johnson said, and when the putts stopped falling it was going to be tough for him to shoot a low score. Johnson said the difficult pin placements on the back nine once again attempted to bait players into taking chances.

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHFLING

The first three holes of the front nine were all pars, and twice Greazel had birdie chances that went wanting. He said he was never able to get a handle on the green speeds over the 36 holes, and struggled to make the correct reads.

The greens were only part of the equation, and Greazel was mostly accurate with his drives and put himself in positions to score.

However, the chances didn’t fall and the frustration grew. Four pars later, he began to leak shots with a bogey on the fifth hole.

It was hard to play without momentum, Greazel said.

“Today, I thought I was there, yanno, I had chances to get a round going,” Greazel said. “Just kinda kept knocking on the door and the door kept shutting when I had the opportunity.”

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHFLING

The next hole, Greazel suffered after a bad bounce on a pulled drive left him under a pine tree in the left-hand rough. After punching out, his approach shot left him with a tough putt for par. A three-putt resulted in his only double-bogey of the day and dropped him to 11-over. After a birdie putt went by on seven, Greazel got a bad bounce on the fringe from a pitch shot, leaving him with 80-plus feet worth of green for his birdie putt. Another three-putt left him with a bogey on the eighth. A miscued chip shot led to a closing bogey at the ninth hole.

Greazel ended up with a 13th place finish with his 80, coming in 10 shots behind winner Jack Starr of Waukee, who shot an even par 72 to win by one shot at 3-over.

Despite losing five spots, it was a top-15 run for Greazel in his second trip to State in three years.

This experience is something Johnson said is going to help Greazel continue to lead the Bobcats in his senior year, with all of 2020’s starters returning.

“For him to be here, I know he wanted more than anything to be here with his teammates, and so that’ll be one of the No. 1 goals heading into next season,” Johnson said. “I think if the guys commit and play over the summer, I think we can make a big stride forward.”

Iowa High School Boys State Golf Championship

At Des Moines

Des Moines Golf and Country Club, par 72

Team Standings — 1. Waukee 302-303–605, 2. Pleasant Valley 317-304–621, 3. Cedar Falls 322-311–633, 4. Johnston 322-313–635, 5. Ankeny 318-320–638, 6. Linn-Mar 336-321–657, 7. Southeast Polk 333-328–661, 8. (tie) Cedar Rapids Xavier 335-335–670, Sioux City 337-333–670, 10. (tie) Ankeny Centennial 341-334–675, Dubuque Wahlert 342-333–675, 12. Cedar Rapids Prairie 337-345–682.

Individual (top 10) — 1. Jack Starr, WAU, 75-72–147; 2. Brock Seiser, WAU, 75-73–148; 3. Dillon Burr, L-M, 75-75–150; 4. Hunter Johnson, ANK, 76-74–150; 5. Jarred Bowser, JHN, 76-75–151; 6. Jack Dumas, PV, 78-73–151; 7. Sam Vertanen, Ames, 74-77–151; 8. Cale Leonard, Ottumwa, 77-75–152; 9. Nathan Tillman, PV, 79-75–154; 10. Jack Roemer, PV, 77-78–155.

MARSHALLTOWN — 13. Grant Greazel 77-80–157.