Chesnee won the Lady Rebel Invitational. The team included (l-r) Sydney Roberts, Isabella Britt, Caitlyn Cash, Olivia Roberts, Becca Watson, Paige Scruggs. (GolfClub photo)

The Chesnee girls golf team won their second tournament of the new high school season with a victory at The Lady Rebel Invitational played at River Falls Plantation.

The Eagles shot a team total of 309 to edge out the defending South Carolina AAAAA champions from Lexington High School by two-shots.

Molly Hardwick from Lexington was the Lady Rebel medalist carding a 4-under par 68 at River Falls Plantation.(GolfClub photo)

Sydney Roberts carded a 1-over par 73 and Isabella Britt shot a 2-over par 74 to lead the Eagles. Both golfers earned a spot on the All-Tournament team.

Roberts hit 16 greens in regulation and Britt turned in one of only two eagles made in the tournament.

“Our team played very steady,” said Chesnee coach Kyle Scruggs. “Not everyone on the team got off to a good start, but they all played hard and turned in some good scores,” he added.

Caitlyn Cash was one of the players Scruggs praised. After a 6-over par start on the first few holes Cash played the remainder of the round at only 1-over par to give the Eagles their third score in the 70s.

“We also got a good score from Olivia Roberts. She is just an eighth grader and she shot a 83 and had her score counted. I thought that was great,” said Scruggs.

Lexington was without South Carolina AAAAA individual champion Isabella Rawl at the tournament. However, two Wildcat golfers turned in the best scores of the tournament.

Molly Hardwick shot a 4-under par 68 and won medalist honors. Her teammate Karlee Vardas finished two shots behind Hardwick for second place. Both golfers made the All-Tournament team.

Lexington finished 2 shots behind Chesnee. The Wildcat team included Karlee Vardas, Molly Hardwick, Emily Beiers, Bella Bernagozi, Ellie Hardwick. (GolfClub photo)

“Molly and Karlee really played well especially considering they had never played the course before,” said Lexington coach Brandon Smith.

Chesnee started the new season ranked second in the pre-season Class AAA South Carolina High School Golf Association poll. The defending AAA champions from Oceanside are the top-ranked team in the class.

This is just the second year for the girl’s team at Chesnee and Scruggs is pleased with the recognition, but knows the ranking does not matter out on the course.

“We just need to play our game and keep trying to get better. We don’t need to focus on any rankings,” said the Chesnee coach.

Lady Rebel Invitational Top 10, 1-Chesnee 309, 2-Lexington 311, 3-Blythewood 313, 4-Gilbert 319, 5-Boiling Springs 323, 6-Daniel 329, 7-Byrnes 354, 8-River Bluff 378, 9-Seneca 380, 10-Spartanburg 395.

Lady Rebel All Tournament team. Molly Hardwick and Karlee Vardas from Lexington. Sydney Roberts and Isabella Britt from Chesnee. Madison Dixon, MK Talledo from Boiling Springs. (GolfClub photo)

All Tournament team, 1-Molly Hardwick, Lexington 68, 2-Karlee Vardas, Lexington 70, 3-Sydney Roberts, Chesnee 73, 4-Tie, Isabella Britt Chesnee, Madison Dixon Boiling Springs 75, 6-Tie, MK Talledo Boiling Springs,  Maddie Grace Padgett, Dorman 75.

SC Golf Coaches Association    Pre-season Poll

AAAAA

1 Lexington, 2 Blyuthewood, 3 Boiling Springs, 4 Byrnes, 5 Dorman, 6 St James, 7 Chapin, 8 Ft Dorchester, 9 Wando, 10 Carolina Forest.

AAAA

1 Daniel, 2 AC Flora, 3 Pickens, 4 Myrtle Beach, 5 Hilton Head, 6 Wren, 7 Greenville, 8 North Myrtle Beach, 9 Blue Ridge, 10 Travelers Rest.

AAA-AA-A

1 Oceanside, 2 Chesnee, 3 Gilbert, 4 May River, 5 St. Joseph’s, 6 Bishop England, 7 Chapman, 8 Seneca, 9 Powdersville, 10 Ware Shoals.