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Wren golf near flawless entering stretch run

STORY TOOLS

— Phillip Hewlett admits that his coaching duties are simple.

“Stay focused, have fun,” said Hewlett, Wren’s first-year golf coach. “Trusting what you’ve done so far. Go out and have a good time.”

What the Wren golf team has done so far is win, several times over. The Lady Hurricanes were 14-1 entering Thursday’s match at T.L. Hanna, and have hardly been tested.

Stopped in the hallways at school, classmates ask the golfers how they fared in recent matches.

“Did ya’ll win your match,” classmates ask.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t we,” the golfers reply. “We played didn’t we? We won by 66 shots.”

The only time Wren hasn’t left with the low score was against Dorman, one of two other state title contenders, but Wren also owns two wins over the Lady Cavaliers, including the Dorman Invitational.

The Canes have done it behind a deep and interchangeable lineup.

“If you know you’re not going to have a good round,” said senior No. 1 Anna Martin, “you know somebody will back you up.”

Martin, who will play at College of Charleston next year, won The Blade tournament and the Greenville County Amateur on the summer circuit.

“She competes hard, she’s clutch, really,” Hewlett said. “She doesn’t really have a weakness.”

Freshman Kaitlin Matheson plays No. 2 with a competitive fire that sometimes boils over.

“Maybe too much,” Hewlett said.

Matheson’s consistency allows Hewlett to leave his lineup fairly intact throughout the season, which paves the way for separation at Nos. 3 and 4.

The oldest secret in high school golf is virtually every team has strong players at the top, but the hardware is won at the back end, or with a team that can flip flop the lineup.

That’s where junior Katie Eskew contributes at No. 3. Very consistent, Hewlett said, Eskew shot back-to-back sub-par rounds in the last week.

Outside of Martin, the most experienced player is No. 4 Kaitlyn Prescott, a senior, who’s deciding between Spartanburg Methodist and Erskine for her college destination. The longest driver on the team, Prescott’s the anchor who you can mark down 2-over with a Sharpie.

Wren’s enjoyed a golfing resurgence recently with two top five state finishes in the last three seasons. The Canes say it’s because nearly every player in the program has college golf aspirations.

“We all want to be good at golf, it’s not a side sport to us,” Matheson said. “It’s a big deal.”

With the Region 1-AAAA tournament in 10 days, and the state tournament two weeks after that, Wren is starting the most important stretch of the season. It’s 9-0 in region play, and expected to build off of last year’s third-place state finish, behind Lexington and Dorman by 64 and 74 shots.

And since the state tournament’s at Lexington Country Club, Wren understands the uphill climb against the talented and experienced Lady Wildcats.

“I know we’re not invincible,” Martin said. “Because I’ve played Lexington (golfers) at summer tournaments, and Lexington knows they’re going to win.”

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