BUTTE — For Lauren Greeny, another solid round of golf at the Butte Country Club came down to focusing on fundamentals.
"Hitting the fairways, hitting the greens, making sure that my lag putts are good," said Bozeman's Greeny, a Montana State golfer. "And then just two-putting it in."
That approach of solid drives and approach shots that gave her some wiggle room on the green paid off for Greeny in the second round of the women's State Amateur championship Monday.
She broke a first-round tie with Corvallis graduate and Boise State golfer Macee Greenwood by carding a second-round 4-over 75 to extend her two-day total to 149. She tallied three birdies and 10 pars in the second round.
Greeny, who is the defending State Am champion, now holds a three-stroke lead over University of Montana golfers Hannah Ports (152) and Kylie Franklin (153). Greenwood slid into fourth place at 154, followed by Hannah's twin sister Raina Ports (158) and Montana Tech golfer Emma Woods (159).
In the women's Mid Am, Darah Newell Smith leads with a two-day tally of 151 and she has a 12-stroke lead over defending Mid Am champion Jackie Mee (163). The Senior Am is led by Jo Smith at 174 followed by Deb Porcorelli (176).
Greeny now has a chance to become the first back-to-back women's State Am winner since Billings' Rachel Warren in 2007 and 2008. But she's being mindful to not look too far forward or ahead.
"It's just another round tomorrow," said Greeny. "I'm not really thinking about winning, I'm just looking to play my best."
