Last year was all about redemption for the Mead Hall golf team.
The Panthers were runners-up the year before in the South Carolina Independent Schools Association Class AA championship, so they used every tournament, every match and every practice the following season to make sure that didn't happen again.
This year was about retention.
The Panthers made their championship dreams come true a year ago, and this year's team started the season with the same goal in mind despite losing three members of last year's team - and they weren't going to let youth and a lack of numbers get in the way.
They proved that over 36 holes at the General James Hackler Course at Coastal Carolina University, as head coach Mike Abrams' group of three juniors, an eighth-grader and a seventh-grader blew away the field to repeat as state champions.
"All in all, our three juniors really stepped up. Our eighth-grader stepped up in the state championship, and even our seventh-grader, she participated at a very high level," Abrams explained. "Very experienced team, even though they're young with our three older kids. They came into this season saying, 'Hey, we're kind of behind the eight ball a little bit with numbers here, but we want to go back-to-back in the state championship.' And they did it. They accomplished their goal, and they did it by a lot."
The Panthers' 36-hole total of 635 wasn't just good enough to win a state championship - it was enough to do it by some 50 strokes.
"They dropped the hammer on them in the state championship, which was super fun for them," Abrams said. "Again, very much like last year, they looked forward to those couple of days. ... They kind of felt it was theirs to lose, certainly after day one. We were up maybe 23, 24 after day one, and they did better on day two. It was a good state championship for them, for sure."
Last year's team wasn't happy with a five-shot lead after day one, so they found a way to blow off some steam in a competitive fashion by going go-kart racing. This year the outlet was PopStroke Myrtle Beach, the Tiger Woods-founded golf-entertainment fusion complete with two 18-hole miniature golf courses. They had so much fun there in the pouring rain that they went back the next day, and they couldn't wait to get back onto the course to continue putting distance between themselves and the rest of the field.
Granger Young led the way for the Panthers with a two-day total of 151, which was good for co-medalist honors.
"I was very happy for him. He wanted it very badly," Abrams said. "He was co-medalist, but he had an opportunity to have it by himself. He had a challenging 18th hole on day two. It it wasn't for that one golf hole, he would've been the sole medalist. At the end of the day I told him, 'You're still a medalist. You still got the medal. Your name's at the top, and you deserve it.' His hard work, it's just paramount in everything that he's accomplished so far, and I think he hasn't even completely tapped into his potential."
Brooks Abrams (77-81), Stern Massey (82-81) and Graham Wilson (85-78) turned in steady scores over both days, and seventh-grader Zoey Meldrum got in on the action with a 97 on day two.
It was rare to have the entire team together this season, which Mike Abrams said was the biggest challenge. The players had so many additional responsibilities with school and extracurriculars that it made it difficult to put together practice schedules and have everyone available for matches - it only happened twice during the season, but they came together and performed at a very high level at the right time.
"All of them being friends and playing recreationally together certainly helps out, too," he explained. "... These kids are out at the golf course, and they're grinding. They're playing, and they're competing constantly. So even if we don't have an organized practice, I know that they're getting their reps in whether it's on a Saturday, Sunday, Wednesday, you name it. They're out there competing in one way, shape or form. At the end of the day, as an athlete you just want to compete and you just want to win, and that's the attitude that all of these kids have had not just this year, but every year that I've been fortunate enough to coach their team."
That's where the Panthers' juniors became essentially three additional coaches. If Mike Abrams couldn't make it to a practice, those juniors would divide up the different groups of players, collect the scores and report back to their coach. Their leadership showed in how accepting they were of their younger teammates, and they did that throughout the season.
The Panthers are moving back down to SCISA's Class A next year, which should bring with it some stiffer competition. However, Mead Hall will take on that challenge with three seniors, a freshman and an eighth-grader with state championship experience - and there's no telling who else might be on the roster. Mike Abrams is hopeful that back-to-back state championships encourage some of the other golfers on campus to come out for the team.
The school season is finished, but the crown jewel on the schedule is this weekend - the Southern Cross at Palmetto Golf Club, where the Panthers will get to compete with the best of the best from the area and the state.
"I think that is the one invitational tournament that gets these kids through the season," Mike Abrams said. "That's all they want is to perform well at the Southern Cross. They love the idea of winning the state championship. They wanted to win the state championship. They wanted to go back-to-back. But they want to perform well at Southern Cross."
The Panthers know the names of the schools and players they'll be facing from junior tournaments throughout the state. They know which schools are known for consistently producing the top golfers in the state, and they want to be in that discussion.
"If they can go out day one - they know the golf course. They know how it's playing. They've been playing it most of their lives," Mike Abrams said. "Coming off of the renovation out at Palmetto, they know the golf course unlike most of the other kids that are going to be coming to play. This could be a year to keep your eye on Granger, maybe Brooks and Stern and Graham and see what they can do.
"It's going to be fun to be a part of it. They're super excited. I'm super excited, as a member of Palmetto. I just hope that they're able to set the nerves aside and go in it and perform like I know they can, like I've seen them perform out there and put something special together. It'd be fun to watch."
