Six year’s ago there were more than a few questions about the new Chesnee High School girls golf program,.

Six year’s later there are no questions, just applause for the Chesnee golf program that won its third straight state championship on October 17th at the Lancaster Country Club.

When the South Carolina High School League withdrew its exemption allowing student-athletes in the same school district, but at different schools, to play together on one team, the ruling was not well received at Boiling Sorings High School.

The Bulldog team was made up of three Boiling Springs students and three from Chesnee, The ruling meant the Chesnee golfers would have to start their own team at their high school,

“Nobody likes changes,” said Kyle Scruggs, the coach of the team. “At first no one was happy about the ruling, but looking back now it gave a lot more kids the opportunity to play high school golf at both schools,” he said,

Scruggs and three golfers started the Chesnee team and went recruiting a couple of athletes to fill the five spots needed to compete,

“We had a couple of athletic softball players who joined us, They had a lot to learn about golf, but they gave us a chance to compete and we finished sixth in the state the first year,” he recalled.

The softball players became golfers and in the second year the program finished second to Charter School powerhouse Oceanside.

The third year produced a runner-up finish to an outstanding Gilbert team and the fourth year produced a state championship in a rematch with Gilbert.

“Looking back those girls stepped up and helped us build our program into what it is today,: said Scruggs.

The following year the Eagles won the first combined AA-A state championship and followed it up with the win at this year’s win at Lancaster Country Club for two straight.

“The last six year’s have gone by really fast. I have had some great girls and especially some great parents who help the program so much, We could not have won these championships without their help.” he said.

This year the programs progress showed with Chesnee finishing on top of several 18 hole tournaments, The Eagles built their schedule around major championships to get ready for the 36 hole Class AA final.

The Eagles’ wins came over many of the top teams in larger classifications, It wasn’t unusual to see Chesnee getting medals for wins in tournaments featuring many of the top AAAAA, AAAA and AAA teams in South Carolins,

“We won some big tournaments this year and finished well in the ones we didn’t win. Playing tournqments instead of matches built the confidence we needed to win this week,” said the coach,

The Eagles dominted the AA championship leading the first round by 41 shots and doubled the number in the final round to claim the teams third straight state title by a comfortable 82 stroke margin.

Olivia Roberts won her second straight state championship shooting identical 2-under par rounds of 70 for the 140 total and a seven shot advantage.

“I think all the practice and tournaments I played in during the summer paid off,” said Roberts. “I just have a mental state to keep grinding and go low,” she added.

Roberts two under par rounds were the only ones on the leader board. The younger sister of Clemson golfer and 2020 state champion Sydney Roberts could have coasted to the win, but instead tried to go as low as she could,

:”When I can shoot a low score in a tournament, I know I can go lower and I push the peddle down to see how low I can go. I’m not afraid of going low, I have another gear,” she said.

With Roberts claiming medalist honors, three other Chesnee golfers earned All-State recognition.

Addy Parker finished third at 4-over par. Teammates Olivia Shields and Abigail Watson finished seventh and tenth to give the Eagles four top-ten performances.

Roberts, a junior, is looking forward to a run at another state championship in her senior year.

“I want to chase that next year and see if I can get three.” siad the two time state champion.

Scruggs has the same idea for the team next year.

“We have come a long way in a few years. We now have a JV team and our championship team has a lot of young players who work hard to get better<” he said.

The Chesnee coach passes much of the credit for the championship performance of his team to the parents of the Eagle golfers.

“I only get them for three months out of the year, The parents do such a great job of getting the girls to lessons and tournaments they make my job very easy,” said the Chesnee coach.

With the entire state championship team returning and an improving JV squad to add support Scrugs believes Chesnee is building a program that can play at a championship level for a long time.

“Winning championships is hard and its fun to win. We don’t want it to end when these girls graduate in a couple of years. We want the program to be something Chesnee can be proud of for a long time,” concluded Scruggs.