In recent years the Links Hills Country Club has become the home away from home for the Lee women's golf team. The Lady Flames returned to the course on Tuesday and walked away with the championship of the Agnes McAmis Memorial that was hosted by Tusculum College.
Lee's 303 team total was good enough for a one-stroke victory over Carson-Newman College (304). In a tournament that was shortened to 18 holes after heavy rains washed out Monday's round,. Wingate University (314) was third, Converse College (317) was fourth and King College (322) was fifth in the field that was made-up of 12 teams.
The Lady Flames dominated the five-person all-tournament team.
Wingate's Caitlin Starrs posted a 1-under 71 and earned the medalist title and Carson-Newman's Mary Tunnell took second with a 1-over 73, but the next three spots belonged to Lee.. Bernadette Little and Cori Burns each carded a 75. The final spot on the all-tourney squad was settled by a scorecard playoff. Lee's Madison Alexander was declared the winner over teammate Courtney Shelton and Carson=Newman's Lauren Hodge. All three fired a 76.
What a great win for our team today," noted coach John Maupin. "I couldn't be more proud of the effort our girls turned in. All six of them stepped up and did a nice job. With the tournament being reduced to 18 holes it really opens the field up a lot more, and it becomes more of a shootout. That can sometimes be a tough mental adjustment, but the team handled it very well and just went out there and put up a great score. It's hard to really just praise one or two players because I felt like it was just a total team effort. They have been working very hard, so it's nice to see it pay off. I thought coach (Alex) Ratliff did a great job this week of coaching the girls, and helping them navigate the course. We only have one left, but it's one we are really looking forward to since it will be our first Gulf South Conference Tournament."
Other Lee scores saw Callie Kitchens post a 77 and Sarah Robertson tallied a 79. The Lady Flames will return to action on April 21 when they travel to Tunica, Miss. to take part in the Gulf South Conference Tournament.