Greenville County High School championship sets stage for playoff run

By Stan Olenik Editor-Publisher, The Golf Club

The high school regular season has only a couple of weeks remaining before region and state qualifying tournaments begin, and based on the results of the Greenville County Championship, local teams and individuals should have plenty to say about who takes home South Carolina High School League honors next month.

There was no shortage of storylines from the 18-hole event at the Links O’Tryon.

Defending Class 4A state champion Blue Ridge claimed the county team title, finishing four shots ahead of Greenville. The Tigers once again leaned on the steady play of future Gamecock Dawson Szabo, but it was teammate Andrew Warden who turned in one of the day’s best rounds with a 5-under-par 67.

As strong as Warden’s effort was, it came up one shot short of Riverside junior Brennan Kelly, who fired a 6-under 66—his lowest round in high school competition—to earn medalist honors.

The county title adds to an already impressive stretch for Kelly, who also won the Rebel Invitational in a playoff last month.

“It just has been about consistency,” Kelly said. “Trying to do the same thing time after time, and when you make a mistake, learning from it.”

Mistakes were hard to find in Kelly’s round. His lone blemish, a bogey on the 15th hole, was quickly erased with back-to-back birdies on 17 and 18 to close at 6-under.

Kelly took advantage of the par-5s, birdieing all four, and capped each nine with a pair of birdies.

His play has not only elevated his individual standing but also helped push Riverside into the conversation as a team contender.

“We’ve got some big tournaments coming up,” Kelly said. “Obviously, I’d like to win an individual championship, but I want to see us get a team win. We still haven’t put it all together yet, but we can definitely get there.”

The county championship format allows teams from all classifications to compete head-to-head, providing a measuring stick as postseason play approaches.

Another headline coming out of the event is the continued improvement of Greenville.

The Red Raiders finished second and have posted multiple top-five finishes this season as they try to track down perennial power T.L. Hanna.

Greenville lost key contributors to the college ranks with Tip Price heading to Clemson and Hugh Faulkner to Anderson, but a young core has stepped in to keep the Raiders competitive.

Junior Sawyer Driscoll and sophomore Reid Allison earned All-Tournament honors, tying for fifth place, while sophomore Karsen Wilkins and freshman Thomas DeMint tied for 10th to round out a strong team showing.

Greenville still has ground to make up. In events where both teams have competed, Hanna has maintained the edge, winning both the Rebel Invitational and its own Yellow Jacket Invitational.

The Yellow Jackets also claimed the Anderson County Championship, finishing ahead of Powdersville. Future Georgia Southern golfer Erik Erlenkeuser earned medalist honors, with future Clemson golfer Bennett Scaletta finishing runner-up. Cal Harbin added a sixth-place finish to support the team victory.

With Riverside’s rise and Greenville’s steady progress, Hanna remains the favorite—but the gap may be closing.

Most Upstate teams will continue match play over the next couple of weeks before the schedule shifts to multi-round events.

That transition begins with The Hurricane at Southern Oaks on April 21, a 36-hole tournament that more closely mirrors the format of the state championships.

Key dates to watch: region championships begin around April 27, upper and lower state qualifiers follow on May 4, and state championship play in some classifications begins May 11.

And jammed in the middle of everything is the tournament every high school golfer wants to play and win The Southern Cross at the Palmetto Golf Club in Aiken.

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