It was the same story, only a different verse on Tuesday afternoon in the final round of the Lee Lady Flames Shootout. There was a chill in the air and the wind was still cutting, but coach John Maupin's team battled the elements to win its own tournament at the event hosted by the Cleveland Country Club.
"The scores don’t tell the story, because the conditions were VERY tough," Maupin noted. "I have seen a lot of rounds at this golf course, and I can honestly say I have never seen it play more difficult over two consecutive days.
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Not only did the Lady Flames capture the team honors (327, 329 -656) over second-place South Carolina-Beauford (347, 342 - 689), sophomore Madison Alexander (82, 81 - 161) made it a clean sweep by defeating Bryan College's Carrilee Hiers (77, 84 - 161) on the first hole of sudden-death playoff. It was the first medalist honors claimed by Alexander in her young college career.
"We are ecstatic to not only end our fall season with a win, but also to defend our title at our home tournament," said Maupin. "This was a good field. We certainly didn’t expect to win by 33 shots, but obviously we are happy with how we played."
Coastal Georgia (692), University of the Cumberlands (695) and SCAD-Atlanta (722) rounded out the top five finishers.
Lee also claimed the No. 3 and 4 spots and placed four on the all-tournament team.. Freshman Bernadette Little carded an 81, 83 - 164 and finished third, while Courtney Shelton was fourth after her 84, 81 - 165.
Christian Liggin of Coastal Georgia, Kelli Nakano of South Carolina-Beauford and Lee's Sloane Skinner tied for the fifth spot, all finishing the 36-hole event at 166. Lee's Kristin Bourg, playing in the individual competition, tied for 15th with a 173.
"It’s really exciting to have four players make the all-tournament team," the coach added. "That says a lot about the toughness of our team. I am very happy for Madison, this will be something she never forgets, winning her first college tournament. And to do it in a playoff makes it even more impressive. She joined an expanding list of Lee University Lady Flames to be medalist at a college tournament. This week was mostly about playing in survival mode, and we did a great job of that. We ended the fall on a great note, winning our last two tournaments. I think I speak for all of us, when I say we are looking forward to the spring."
Maupin said he would also like to thank all the teams and players that participated. "We were very pleased with the turnout. I also want to thank Lamar Mills, Jeff Travis and the entire staff at Cleveland Country Club for allowing us to host this event at their facility. The course was in excellent shape, and provided a top notch venue for the week."