Scoring app miscue showed Daniel as the winner before recheck

When was the Class 4A state championship decided?

Was it when the final putt dropped at Cross Creek Plantation in Seneca? Or when the final score was finally corrected inside a scoring app that briefly showed the wrong winner?

In the end, both moments became part of one of the wildest finishes of the South Carolina high school golf season.

Blue Ridge successfully defended its Class 4A championship, surviving a dramatic scoring confusion involving the live tournament app to edge Daniel by three shots after two days of competition. But for nearly 10 agonizing minutes after play ended, Daniel players believed they had won the state title.

And honestly, based on what the scoring app showed, they had every reason to believe it.

“There had been a two or three shot difference between us all year,” Daniel coach Ron Thomas said. “We lost to them by three, beat them by three at region and then lost to them by three at state. That’s how close it was all season.”

The confusion began when Blue Ridge coach Richie Stevens made what ultimately became the championship-saving coaching move of the tournament.

After the opening round, Stevens used the tournament substitution rule to insert Wyatt Camp into the lineup, searching for a dependable fifth score on a difficult Cross Creek layout.

“That had been our trouble spot all year,” Stevens said. “Finding a consistent fifth man.”

Camp delivered exactly what Blue Ridge needed, battling through a difficult front nine before settling down and producing a counting score that became the difference in the championship.

But when the substitution was entered into the scoring app, Camp’s seed placement was never properly adjusted inside the system. The app only counted the original top five seeded players, meaning Camp’s score never appeared in Blue Ridge’s total.

As scores rolled in late in the round, Daniel appeared to move into the lead.

Players, coaches and spectators watched the app update hole-by-hole while Daniel’s players began celebrating what looked like a state championship victory.

Meanwhile Stevens was staring at numbers that did not add up.

“So I went to the scoring table and said, ‘Something’s wrong,’” Stevens said.

As tournament officials manually checked the official paper scorecards, the mistake was finally discovered. Camp’s score had never been included.

When the corrected totals were entered, Blue Ridge had officially repeated as state champion.

“It was a long agonizing 10 minutes,” Thomas said. “The kids went from celebrating to confusion to despair. That’s a pretty big emotional swing for a bunch of kids.

To Daniel’s credit, Thomas and his players handled the reversal with remarkable composure despite the emotional blow.

“A class act” was the description repeatedly used afterward by people around the tournament.

The finish overshadowed what had been an outstanding season-long battle between two of the state’s best programs.

Daniel, Blue Ridge and Seneca all emerged from the same region, while Bishop England added another strong contender from the Lowcountry.

Daniel’s future still appears bright despite graduating three seniors from this year’s runner-up team.

 Miles Pischer heads to North Greenville, while sophomore Oliver Maxson and several younger players are expected to keep the Lions firmly in the championship conversation.

Thomas believed one of the strengths of his team all season was its depth.

“I didn’t really depend on one star player,” Thomas said. “Different guys stepped up for us all year.”

Blue Ridge meanwhile continued one of the most impressive runs any boys golf program in South Carolina has produced in recent years.

Over the last three seasons the Tigers have finished second once and captured two state championships, remarkable consistency for a program led by Stevens, whose primary coaching background comes from basketball, not golf.

Stevens laughs about not exactly being the person players would turn to for swing instruction, but the team-first mentality and competitive edge he brought from basketball helped shape the Tigers into one of the state’s premier programs.

Led again by future South Carolina golfer Dawson Szabo, Blue Ridge combined talent with chemistry and resilience throughout the season.

Stevens said that bond between the players became one of the defining strengths of the team.

“They really bought into playing for each other,” Stevens said. “This is probably the only time in their golf careers they get to experience being part of a true team, and they embraced that.”

And in a championship decided by only a few strokes — and a few chaotic moments at the scoring table — that team approach proved to be just enough again.