by Scott Sacry
Corvallis’s Macee Greenwood won the 2022 Montana State Junior Golf Championship on June 21st in Laurel in the 16-18 year old division, adding another title to her outstanding golf career. Greenwood shot 77 on both days and won by 10 strokes over the nearest competitor. Greenwood was also the 2021 champion, and is no stranger to excelling in golf tournaments. In high school, Greenwood was the state Class A champion as a junior and finished 2nd her freshman, sophomore, and senior years.
Greenwood plans to attend Division I Boise State in the fall and compete on the women’s golf team and study early childhood education. “When I was looking for colleges, I ideally wanted to go somewhere warm,” says Greenwood, “and it came down to Boise and a school in Arizona. It was very stressful at the time to make the decision, but everything kind of came together and I picked Boise. After going through the whole process I’m super happy with my decision and love that I will get the chance to compete at a Division I level.”
Greenwood started playing golf with her dad when she was young. “We moved to Montana when I was 10 years old,” says Greenwood, “and we didn’t know anyone yet, so we went golfing and I became my dad’s golf partner. Then I started playing competitively when I was 12 or 13.”
Greenwood has a sweet spot for the lessons golf has to teach. “I like the individual nature of golf, it’s all on you,” says Greenwood. “It teaches so many life lessons, like integrity and honesty, because you have to keep your own score and take your own penalties.”
Winning the Montana State Junior title qualified Greenwood for the Junior World Championships and the Girls Junior Americas Cup. The Junior World Championships is held at the famous Torrey Pines golf course in San Diego on July 12-15th. “I got to go last year, but one of the Torrey Pines courses was closed, so we didn’t get to play it,” says Greenwood. “So I’m super excited that I get to play Torrey Pines this year.” The Girls Junior Americas Cup is a 54 hole team tournament held in Helena on July 24th-28th. It features 18 teams from the western United States, Mexico, and Canada. Greenwood will lead the Montana team. She played in this event last year and called it the, “best golf event I have ever played in, it’s so much fun!”
When asked about her strengths as a golfer, Greenwood says, “Overall, I feel my putting is strong. My coach has a great putting system that I have been working on. I’m generally good off the tee, and my irons have been consistent.” Golf is a tough sport to master, as anyone who plays will tell you. “I love that you can always improve your game,’’ says Greenwood. “There’s always something to fix, always something to get better at. I don’t think I would be the person I am today if I didn’t have golf.”