Bengals Best: Blythewood High earns 5A girls golf state championship
The Blythewood girls golf team has been the dominant program in Class 5A this season and capped it off with a state championship Tuesday at the Country Club of South Carolina.
The Bengals shot a two-day total of 583 and won by 47 strokes over second-place Chapin.
It was Blythewood’s second title in three years.
“It is hard to put into words but we are very excited and blessed to have this group of girls,” Blythewood coach Jason Minkel said. “It is awesome that our seniors could go out on top with an undefeated season. We won every event by a pretty good margin. It goes back to how hard they worked and the time they put in.”
Blythewood won all 11 tournaments this year by an average of 28 strokes. They were under-par in four of the 11 tournaments.
The Bengals shot a 1-under 287 on Tuesday after an 8-over 296 on Monday. Minkel said his team wasn’t happy with how they played in the first round despite carrying a 17-shot lead in the final day.
Minkel reminded them of two years ago when they began the second round with just a three-shot lead and it went down to the final nine holes.
“Their expectations are so high, that is the biggest challenge for us to stay hungry and go for it,” Minkel said. “When you don’t have your best round and still play well, that is a testament of how far we have come in the last three or four years and how hard we worked.”
Blythewood placed three on the all-state team, which is made up of the top 10 golfers in the event. Senior Paige Paolucci was third overall with a 3-under 143. The Anderson University commit shot a 5-under 67 on Tuesday for the low round of the day.
Eighth-grader Caroline Hawkins (145) was fifth and Ella Stalvey (147) tied for sixth. Elizabeth Maddon (151) was 11th.
Lexington senior and Clemson commit Isabella Rawl was the individual state champion for the second time in her career. Rawl shot a 7-under 137 to win by one stroke over St. James Adrian Anderson.
Rawl also won the event as a freshman. As a team, Lexington finished fourth.
Lower State champion Chapin was second after shooting a 630. It was the Eagles’ best finish since moving to Class 5A. Chapin finished second in 2011 when it was in Class 3A.
Chapin’s Emily Baker (147) tied for sixth and was all-state.
