The Lady Flames proudly display the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate tournament plaque
photo by Lee University
SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. – Chalk-up a third consecutive tournament win for the Lee University women's golf team. This week's win took on an extra meaning for coach John Maupin's club that was pitted against five NCAA Division I programs in the seven-team field.
The Lady Flames posted their best four scores of the 54-hole event on Tuesday (294) and a total tally of 895, nine strokes better than the host squad, Tennessee Tech University.
The Eagles turned in a 297 on Tuesday for a 54-hole score of 906.
The Bobby Nichols Collegiate was staged at the Sevierville Golf Club (Highlands Course). Belmont University (916) placed third, followed by Carson-Newman (932), Evansville University (961), Radford University (961) and Tennessee State (1031).
"I was really proud of our team today," said coach Maupin after the final round ended. "To be honest from an execution standpoint it was our poorest day of the week. I think it says a lot for our girls – being able to turn it in to our lowest round of the tournament, and the low-team round of the day.
"Our players showed a lot of grit today," he added. "I think halfway through the day it was closer than the final score indicated. I loved the way our players responded when it wasn't going our way."
Maupin praised his entire club. "It's been really big that we are getting contributions from everyone," he proclaimed. "Carol (Caroline Moore) bounced back with a big-time round today (1-under 70). Sam (Burrus) continues to be a tremendous, consistent presence for us. Annika (Gino) had a very good tournament. I feel like our freshmen have shown so much growth and get stronger with each passing round."
Carson-Newman's Elizabeth England claimed medalist honors with a three-day total of 296. Kayla Katterhenry (Evansville) and Allyson Dunn (Tennessee Tech) tied for second place (220). Lee's Burrus (76-71-75 – 222) was fourth and her freshman teammate, Anne Hedegaard (79-73-74 – 226) rounded out the top five finishers.
Showing the mark of a champion, Lee's Moore battled back from rounds of 78-81 to fire the best round of the tournament on Tuesday (70) and move all the way up to ninth place in the medalist standings (229). Judianne Speech followed at 240 and Kensington Wieland finished at 247.
"We've got some lessons to take away from this one," noted the Lee coach in closing. "We'll use it to help us prepare for the next one." The next one takes place on April 3 when they travel to Pensacola, Fla. to take part in the University of West Florida event.