Final putt and celebration as the South wins the annual North-South All-Star Matches at Stoney Point

The South All-stars earned their first win in the annual North-South All-Star match played at Stoney Point in Greenwood.

South Carolina High School girls have been playing an end of the season North-South All-Star match since 2012. The team from the North had dominated the competition winning all of the matches played.

This year was different. The South team finally broke through on the strength of a three foot putt by Bishop England golfer Kennedy Carroll.

“When I walked up and looked at the putt, the three feet looked like 30 feet,” said the future UNC Charlotte golfer. “I just knew I was going to make it and I drilled it into the back of the hole,” said Carroll.

Carroll’s put on the 18th hole halved her match with Gillian O’Brien from Daniel and gave the South the win by the narrowest of margins.

The short putt put an end to the five year winning streak of the North All-Stars. It gave the South All-Stars a win by just a half a point to claim the Dru Nix trophy.

The weekend tournament featured eight senior golfers from the Northern and Southern part of the state. The golfers played 9 holes of alternate shot competition and then 9 holes of best ball play.

Kennedy Carroll from Bishop England rolled in her final putt to give the South their first win in the series.

After the first day the match was even and it came down to the singles matches to determine the winners.

“We tried to use a little strategy with the way we matched up with the South team,” said North coach Arthur Brooks from Byrnes. He and head coach Dillon Barrett from York set their lineup to take advantage of the strengths of their players.

The South team included three golfers who had won individual state championships. Carroll, Smith Knaffle from St.James and Emma Charles from Hartsville all had succeeded in pressure situations and had the confidence of their coach going into the final round.

“We just sent our team out and they had a positive attitude and had some fun,” said Christine Ronco the South coach from Bishop England. “This entire weekend was a lot of fun,” she said.

This was the last high school golf event for the All-Stars. Many of the golfers will go on to play college golf next year after ending their high school careers in the tournament at The Links at Stoney Point.

Members of the winning South team included Carroll, Knaffle, Charles and Alanna Harper and Marley Barefoot from River Bluff, Katie Smith from St. James, Jordan Guyton from Dreher and Oliva Erwin from James Island. Ronco was assited by Denise Noll from St. James.

The North team came within a 1/2 point of winning their sixth straight North-South All-Star match.

The North team included O’Brien, Anna Grace Brock from Emerald, Ashley Looper from Travelers Rest, Maddy Key from Gaffney, Katie Spurling from Byrnes, Emileigh Swords from Daniel, Amber Amaker from Boiling Springs and Parker Stalvey from Blythewood.