SUNBURY — As he walked off the 18 green Saturday, Andy Steed was not happy.

He knew he had played well on the second day of the OHSAA Division II Boys Golf Championship at NorthStar Golf Club.

But the Clinton-Massie junior also knew he did not play hole 16 very well and that may have cost him something.

Following the concrete cart path away from the hole, down and then up again, Steed made the turn to the clubhouse, still dejected.

His phone began going off. And with it, that frown turned upside down.

“I turned the corner and my friends started texting me ‘You got second’,” Steed said during an interview following the state tournament.

Steed finished second to Wyoming’s Finley Bartlett, who finished at 2-over. Steed completed his 36 holes at 4-over.

“I thought he played great,” CM head coach Phil Larrick said. “After the 16th hole he could have thrown in the towel but he didn’t.”

Through 15 holes of Saturday’s second round, Steed was 2-under for the day and 1-over for the tournament.

“Today was smooth sailing up until 16,” Larrick said. “He was in great spirits, very confident, playing fantastic.”

With the live scoring option provided by the OHSAA not working properly, it was hard to tell where that had Steed in the standings.

But it was close, if not at the top.

“I was 3-under (for the day) through I think 11 or 12 and that would have won the state championship,” Steed said.

But then came 16.

“I made a stupid decision on 16 and got a triple (bogey),” Steed admitted. “I was in my head at that point. Coach came up to me and said par out and you’ll be fine.”

Steed wasn’t buying it.

“I didn’t think he believed me at the time but I told him he needed to go par-par and he was still going to make first team (top five),” Larrick said. “That was the first time all day that really I told him where he was at.”

The two talked during the morning fog delay about position and whether or not Steed wanted to know his standing throughout the day.

“I knew he (Larrick) would tell me if I needed to go or not,” Steed said. “I wasn’t going to look at the leaderboard and let whatever happens happens.”

After 16, Steed scurried off to 17 tee ahead of the others. Much like when he fizzled out late on the front nine Friday, Steed took some time to collect his thoughts before teeing off on the par 3.

“I just told myself forget about it,” he said. “I had some emotion come out coming up the hill (to 17). I was first up and I hit a shot short and had to chip on.”

Steed left 16 behind him. His chip was solid and his putt even better on 17 as put a 3 on the scorecard.

“I was able to make a putt and that’s what carried on,” Steed said. “I was able to release some pressure, hit a good tee shot on 18, got on and two-putted.”

Despite finishing just as Larrick had hoped, Steed left 18 thinking he blew his chance. But he didn’t. In fact, with a goal of top five after the first round, Steed bettered his goal and put himself in a position to be one of the favorites next season.

“I’m still going to work as hard as I can,” he said. “This winter’s not just going to be sitting back and looking at my medals and what I did this year.

“I’m coming back to win the state championship next year. Hopefully go with my team. It was fun going by myself but I’d really like to have my team up here.”

NOTEBOOK

On Friday, Steed had four birdies, five bogeys and one double bogey. On Saturday, he had five birdies, three bogeys and a triple bogey.

He played the par 4s in +1, the par 5s in +2 and the par 3s in +1.

The biggest differences on the plus side were the par 3s where he went from +2 on during Friday’s round for the four holes, to -1 on Saturday.

On the negative side, Steed played the four par 5s even Friday but +2 on Saturday.

Steed birdied holes 2 and 10 both days but played 16 four-over.