After firing a 1-under par 69 on Sunday, Lee's Matt Johnson did even better on Monday, posting a 4-under 66, good enough for a 135 and a second-place finish in the medalist hunt of the Las Vegas Desert Classic. The event was staged at the Primm Valley Golf Club (Parkland Course) and was shortened to a 36-hole tournament.
"Matt (Johnson) was outstanding this week,” pointed out Lee head coach John Maupin. He turned in a fine performance. Matt has worked hard to get to this point. I'm really proud of him and the finish he had this week."
As a team the Flames improved by 10 strokes on Monday (276) and the two-day total of 562 moved Lee up to a third-place finish behind sizzling hot West Florida (548) and California Baptist (553). Host Missouri-St. Louis was fourth (567) and Grand Valley State (570) rounded out the top five in the field of 18 teams and over 100 individuals.
West Florida had four golfers shoot under 70 on Monday. The Agros Chandler Blanchet walked away with the medalist crown after back to back rounds of 66 for a 132 total.
Lee’s Shea Sylvester carded rounds of 70-71 – 141 and finished in a tied for 13th. Newcomers Scott Odell (74-69 – 143) and Evan Spence (81-70 – 151) showed hope for the future. Odell placed in a tied for 18th. Senior Adam Wright (73-74 - 147) earned a tie for 35th.
"I believe this is a good start for our team,’ said Maupin. “We took away a lot of positives this week. We were really disappointed the third round got called off. We had some good momentum today and it would have been nice to continue that into another round.
"I thought our energy and sense of urgency was really good this morning. Scott (Odell) had a nice round and a solid first tournament in the lineup. I thought Evan (Spence) showed a lot of toughness, bouncing back from a tough first round and playing well in round 2.
"We've got a long way to go. We just want to stay focused on growing as a team and continuing to improve," the coach concluded.