Despite having to play off the more challenging men's tees, Green advanced into match play as the 64th seed Wednesday and took defending champion Kyle Schmidt, a Lakota East grad who is now playing at the University of Dayton, 18 holes before losing 1-up.
“In years past I was like, ‘No, I don’t want to make people mad. I don’t want to go out and embarrass myself,” said Green, who was First Team All-Ohio as a senior at West in 2011. “With coronavirus, there weren’t as many tournaments to play in, so I figured it was the best time to try and help me get as many competitive rounds in as I could. I know I could play the distance and if I had the game I sometimes have, I could make a run for it.”
After shooting a 9-over 153 through two rounds in the stroke play qualifier Monday and Tuesday, Green headed to a 10-person playoff for the final three spots into match play. She made par on the first two holes and was one of two left playing for the last spot when her competitor went into the hazard with his shot. Green made the green to two-putt for par and take the hole.
The former Ashland University golfer has played in several playoffs before and helped lead her college team to three NCAA National Championship appearances, but was nervous thinking what was on the line Wednesday.
“I didn’t want to mess it up and prove to people that, ‘Maybe she shouldn’t have been playing with the men,’” Green said. “I was happy to show I can do it.”
Green enjoyed competing against Schmidt, who was the 2018 Greater Miami Conference Golfer of the Year as a senior at East the same year Green took over as the girls’ head coach after two seasons as an assistant.
It was a tough draw, as Schmidt earned the top seed, but Green stayed right there with him until putting her second shot on hole 18 in the water.
“It was definitely disappointing, but the entire day I didn’t expect to make it as far as I did,” Green said. “I joked with my dad that I made it another hole. I wish I went further and didn’t put my ball in the water, but I’m happy with my accomplishment.”
Green said she doesn’t know how she feels about potentially setting a new trend of females entering the competition. She’s not even sure if she will enter again in the future, but it just depends on what other events she has lined up and how often she can get away from her summer job at Four Bridges Country Club.
The 2017 Cincinnati Women’s Metropolitan Amateur champion, Green normally competes in five events each summer. She heads next to the Ohio Amateur Women’s Championship July 20-23 in Perrysburg and will head to the Ladies’ National Golf Association Championship in Tennessee at the end of July.
“If other females can do it, I would love to see it but I understand if not,” Green said of The Met. “It’s a different experience. It’s a different feel between the two worlds of men’s and women’s golf. I want it to be the women that can handle it. I wouldn’t want just anyone to sign up and we lose the ability to play.”
Playing from the men’s tees and facing different competition than she is used to was beneficial for Green. She noticed that the men are even more positive and supportive with their opponents than most of her female competitors, so she hopes to take that with her into future events and help her high school golfers do the same.
Green also said she gained confidence playing from the men’s tees, which added about 800 yards total to her rounds, and that’s something she hopes she can pass on to her East golfers as well.
“That’s more what I want to pass on is whatever you want to do, do it,” Green said. “Go out and have fun. I hope I showed that I can do what I set my heart for. It’s goof for my girls to see their coach is doing it, not just some random person in the community but someone they know really well.”
About the Author