The Lee men's golf team wrapped up the fall season on Tuesday with a fourth-place finish in the TVA Credit Union Invitational hosted by the University of North Alabama.
North Alabama claimed the team championship with a 54-hole total of 854, nine strokes better than the 865 turned in by Columbus State. Henderson State (Ark,) placed third (877), followed by Lee's 878. Harding University (Ark.) recorded an 887 and rounded out the top five finishers in the field of 14 teams.
North Alabama's Forest Knight set a sizzling pace for the entire field and his 69-69-67 – 205 earned medalist honors. The host Lions placed three golfers in the top five.
Senior Adam Wright registered a solid tourney for the Flames. His final scorecard showed rounds of 71-70-74 – 215, good enough for sixth place. Shea Sylvester fired rounds of 71-74-75 – 220 and tied for 12th. Matt Johnson recorded 74-75-72 – 221 and moved into a tie for 14th.
Lee's best round on Tuesday came from freshman Dylan Lillard. He fired a 1-under 71 and his two-day total of 224 pushed him into a tie for 25th. Corey Sheppard rounded out the scoring for the five Lee golfers who made the trip. He tallied 75-78-76 – 229.
"We had a tough time building momentum as the day went on," explained Lee assistant coach Hunter Vest. "Everyone started off pretty solid today but we struggled to keep up the pace. Big numbers around the turn led us in the wrong direction, but I think we finished a lot closer than the overall scores might have suggested. We got a real good round from Dylan (Lillard)."
Montevallo University, a program coming into the Gulf South Conference next year, walked away with top team and individual honors. Paced by Elaine Wood's record-setting 69-68 – 137, the Alabama-based program finished with a 292-299 – 591 over 36 holes.
The Lady Flames turned in the best team score of Tuesday's rounds (297) but their 36-hole total of 598 remained seven-strokes behind the winners. UNC Pembroke was third (607), Young Harris and Lincoln Memorial tied for fourth (610) in the 13-team field.
While Annika Gino was enjoying her best effort since becoming a Lady Flame, teammates Sam Burrus (73-78 – 151) and Caroline Moore (78-73 – 151) tied for 11th.
"I'm really proud of Annika," said head coach John Maupin. "She played a very solid tournament. She started out 3-over after three holes today and battled all the way back, turning at even par - that showed a lot of poise and toughness."
Anne Hedegaard bounced back from an 80 on Monday with a 74 on Tuesday and her 154 was good enough to join teammate Cailey Gino (77-77- 154) in a tie for 22nd.
"Today was a solid performance from our team," pointed out the coach. "It is always nice to be the low round of the day. Yesterday was pretty disappointing for all of us because we played a lot of good golf and gave it all away with big numbers.
However the Lee coach is already looking toward the spring season. "Moving forward we just need to execute better from shorter distances and be more precise with our yardages. We have some really good depth this year and I'm excited for what we can accomplish as a team. We just have to keep working and get a little better each time out"