CHARLESTON, SC - The Boiling Springs boys' golf team went to Charleston on Monday looking to defend their state title and on Tuesday they returned with their sixth boys' golf state championship in school history along their second straight 5A boys' golf state championship.
Chapin, who finished second, Boiling Springs a run for their money to repeat as champions as the Bulldogs defeated the Eagles by one shot winning the tournament with a two-day team score of 616 over Chapin's score of 617. The repeat of the championship is something that Boiling Springs head coach Josh Pruitt has said he felt his team could do since the beginning of the year. "It's an amazing feeling," said Pruitt. "Having a chance and doing it is two totally different things so for these guys to actually come out here and accomplish it, I can't be prouder." Boiling Springs started off their title defense on Monday with a strong opening day performance as they shot a team score of 308 which was six shots ahead of Chapin and eleven shots ahead of River Bluff. The Bulldogs got a strong opening day from Clayton Taylor who fired a score of 71 at the course, which was one shot under par and two shots behind Wando's Tucker Simon who shot an opening day low score of 69. Taylor said that because of an injury he's dealt with all season, that have caused him to play shots at a lower trajectory, that it actually benefited him at the state championship match because of the conditions. "I was kind of limited because of injury that forced me to have a lower shot," said Bulldog sophomore golfer Clayton Taylor. "That type of play kind of helped me here as it kept my shots out of the win. I actually slept better after putting up that score yesterday than I did the night before, so I guess I didn't feel much pressure after day one." Pruitt said they way that Taylor played over the two days was key and said that he believes he's only scratching the surface of what he can accomplish as a golfer. "He had the one shot he needed here today and was able to finish the season off how he needed to," said Pruitt. "When he's fully back he's going to do some great things. I can see him as an individual state champion because he has that time of game." On the second day the Bulldogs had to fend off some clutch shots by Chapin including key birdies from both Andrew Gregory and Walker Greene over the last two holes. The slim victory proved to his team something that Coach Pruitt has expressed to his players all year, that each shot matters. "I stress it to them all season long that each shot matters," said Pruitt. "It's no more evident than it was today as we came away with a one-shot victory over two days of golf." Pruitt said how the state championship tournament played out was no different than how his team has played all year as someone new seemed to lead the team. "It's almost like a best ball tournament with our season this year," said Pruitt with a laugh. "Someone hits it into the woods then the next guy hits par and that's what it has felt like as a team this year, the next guys is always just stepping up." Boiling Springs will see two golfers from this year's team graduate as it was the final rounds as Bulldogs for both Walker Greene and Owen Jackson. Greene said he was happy that his senior career ended with a championship. "It's a great feeling like Zach and those guys had last year to go out on top," said Bulldogs senior Walker Greene. "Going out as a championship means a lot especially with how we won because it means we gave everything we had in our last round of golf with Boiling Springs." Pruitt said losing those two will be tough, especially Walker Greene, but that the Bulldogs will be looking to make it three in a row next year. "Walker Greene is going to be a tough guy to lose because he's been solid for us the last few years," said Pruitt. "We got some JV kids that will be coming up to take those places though and we'll see what we can do next year." Comments are closed.
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