Hilton Head Sports

Hilton Head Prep’s girls tennis team completed a dominant run through the SCISA Class 2A state tournament with a 5-1 win over Spartanburg Christian in the state championship match Oct. 20.

The Dolphins swept Colleton Prep 6-0 in the first round of the playoffs and defeated Carolina Academy 6-0 in the semifinal match. Ali DeSpain was especially dominant at No. 1 singles, as she did not drop a game in three playoff matches.

For Matt Talcott’s 20th birthday, his mother, Krissy, wanted to give him a great experience during their Lowcountry vacation. But when the Michigan mom called Native Son Adventures to arrange a surf lesson for her son, owner Byron “Surf Dog” Sewell suggested hydrofoil instead.

Hilton Head Island isn’t known as a surf destination — and for good reason; the waves on the island are often gentle at best. But with hydrofoil surfing, any wave becomes ridable. Sewell brought this new sport to the Lowcountry, and his hydrofoil camps, which sound more fun than calling them lessons, are gaining in popularity.

The Hilton Head Island All-Stars had a remarkable run through the Dixie Youth Baseball AA Machine Pitch World Series.

The team of 7- and 8-year-old all-stars from the island came within one win of claiming the Dixie World Series title in July, finishing their run through the district, state, and World Series tournaments with an 18-3 record. The team was led by coaches Johnny Carr, Alvin Espinoza and Pete Fontana and manager John Ontal.

Hilton Head Island High School inducted six former student-athletes and coaches into the school’s Athletics Hall of Fame and Hilton Head Preparatory School added six former student-athletes and two former coaches to its Athletics Hall of Fame in September.

International Junior Golf Academy students took 11 Top 10 finishes in the International Junior Golf Tour’s Florida Junior tournament, held Sept. 15-16 at Falcon’s Fire Golf Club in Kissimmee, Florida.

“We made up less than 25 percent of the field but recorded a slew of top- 3s and a win,” said IJGA director of golf Jonathan Yarwood.

INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR GOLF ACADEMY FINDS NEW LIFE

Andrew Summers had big dreams when he bought Bluffton’s Old Carolina Golf Club: The club and golf course would become home base for an academy for junior golfers. The dream is closer to fruition thanks to a recent $2 million renovation that has reimagined the International Junior Golf Academy and set it apart from the competition.

RENOVATED ISLAND REC HOSTS FIRST BASKETBALL GAME

Hilton Head Island Recreation Center hosted the first basketball game Aug. 18 in its newly renovated facility, when deputies with the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office challenged firefighters from Town of Hilton Head Island Fire Rescue. The sheriff’s deputies won the “Guns vs. Hoses” basketball game — the final score was 65 to 31 — but a rematch is planned for next year. Hilton Head Island town manager Steve Riley received the game basketball and many thanks for his hard work on the Island Rec Center expansion project.

The Hilton Head Island-based Professional Tennis Registry announced that Peggy Edwards, director of communications and editor of TennisPro Magazine, was presented a 2018 Award for Publishing Excellence.  

The Big 10 coalition will host its sixth annual kick-off picnic from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Sept. 23 at Indigo Hall in Indigo Run Plantation. Coach Sharon Versyp, the women’s basketball coach at Purdue for the past 12 years, will be the speaker. She was inducted into both the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame and the New England Basketball Hall of Fame.