By Stan Olenik Editor-Publisher, The Golf Club

If it was a boxing match the corner workers would have tossed in the towel after the first round.

Chesnee took a commanding 53 shot lead over the field after the first round at the Class 2A – 1A championship and went on to win their fourth straight state title.

The Eagles were in control from start to finish as the three time defending state champions brought home a fourth championship trophy from the tournament at the Chester Country Club.

Chesnee played even better in the second round boosting their lead to an amazing 124 shots by the time the Eagles final golfer, Olivia Roberts finished her last hole as the Eagles completed a four-peat.

Last year’s realignment of schools by the South Carolina High School League thinned the ranks of the AA and A Classifications. Fourteen teams competed for the Class championship as a few of the top teams from last year’s event were reclassified into a high level division.

Chesnee golf coach Kyle Scruggs had a different way of looking at the lopsided margin.

“We were here to play the golf course,” said Scruggs. “We shot a 3-over par, 581 total which is a new record for us. I’ve said all year this is the best team I’ve ever had and they went out and proved it,” he said.

If there was any drama to be found in the Classification championship it was in the individual battle for medalist honors.

Roberts, who had won the individual championship the past two seasons carded a 6-under par 66 in the opening round.

The future Anderson University golfer held a two shot lead over Hannah Lowery from Atlantic Collegiate after the first round.

In the final round Roberts got off to an okay start with pars on her first six holes, while Lowery birdied two of her first three holes to pull even with the defending champion.

A bogey by Lowery on her fifth hole and a birdie by Roberts on her seventh hole gave the Chesnee golfer her two shot lead back at the turn,

On the back nine, Roberts birdied numbers 12, 13 and 14 to pull away from Lowery. She finished with a two-day total of 10-under par 134 after posting her second round 4-under par 68.

The Chesnee senior is only the second golfer to win three straight state titles since girls golf became a SCHSL Varsity sport in 1990. McKenzie Talbot from Strom Thurmond High School won her three state championships in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

If you only look for last names in the record book you would find the Roberts name as champion for four consecutive seasons.

Olivia’s older sister Sydney, now a Clemson golfer, won the individual championship her senior year giving the family four straight state titles.

This year Roberts faced the pressure of matching or exceeding her outstanding play as a junior and until the state championship didn’t think she had a very good season.

“This year was a lot more pressure and was different because I had such a good season last year. I had to live up to that. I have not had the best season but coming here I played lights out so I think I am back,” she said.

With Roberts leading the way all five Chesnee golfers finished in the top-10. Olivia Shields was third, Addy Parker was fifth, Jada Flynn was seventh with Abigail Watson finishing eighth as every Chesnee golfer made the All-State team.’

What are the chances the Eagles could continue their domination of AA golf next year?

The Chesnee team will look very different nest year. The Eagles graduate Roberts, Shields and Parker, but return Flynn and Watson from the championship teams.

“We have three really good juniors coming back and there are 17 players in our program. Hopefully we will be back next year and competing again,” concluded Scruggs.

Mountain View Prep wins AAA Championship

The team from Mountain View Prep won the SCHSL 3A Championship by three shots over the defending champions from Waccamaw High School,

Ella Kate Barnett from Aynor was the AAA Medalist.

May River repeats as SCHSL 4A Champions