Junior Dylan Lillard picked up his first collegiate championship as the Lee men's golf team finished third at the Matt Dyas Invitational on Tuesday from the Oak Mountain Championship Course. The event was hosted by West Georgia.
Lillard (209) fired a 2-under 70 to claim the individual title by two strokes over West Georgia's Ethan Jones (211). The Walker Valley High School product posted rounds of 72 and 67 yesterday.
"I'm really proud of Dylan, he's been such a consistent player for us, but we've been talking lately about being able to turn some of those rounds into red numbers and clearly he did that this week.
He did a great job of playing hole by hole this week and cutting loose a little bit," said head coach John Maupin.
Evan Spence was on fire as he recorded 13 birdies to shoot the low round of the day with a 7-under, 65. Spence just missed a birdie putt on 18 that would have tied the lowest round in program history. The junior tied for 14th with a 216 finish.
"Evan was tremendous today, he did a great job of staying patient and picking good targets. He's a relentless worker, so I know it's gratifying for him to see it come to fruition today," Maupin said.
Led by the play of Lillard and Spence the Flames finished with the low round of the day at 284 and a 54-hole total of 3-under, 861. Young Harris captured the team title posting an 855 while West Georgia finished second at 859.
"It feels really good to end the fall season with our best two rounds of the semester. I think we all felt like it was right there all semester, but frustration was mounting," noted Maupin. "It was great to see us relax and just play golf the final 36 holes. I think this is momentum we can carry into the spring."
Freshman Parker Gray posted a 74 and finished at 219 and tied for 26th with teammate Connor Pollman who tallied a 75 on Tuesday. Scott Odell rounded out the Lee scores with a 78 and placed tied for 53rd (228).
"We have a great combination of experience and youth on this team. It's a group of guys I have a lot of confidence in, and I think they have the opportunity to be a special group. This Fall wasn't flawless by any stretch, but I think we have learned some very valuable lessons and we put those into action these last two rounds," concluded Maupin.
The Flames will look to carry this momentum into the spring as they open up 2019 on Feb. 25-26 in the Saint Leo Invitational.
The No. 9 Lee women's golf team settled for a fifth place finish after Tuesday's final round of the Flagler Slam.
The event, being held at the Marsh Creek Country Club, is the final fall event for the Lady Flames. They will get back to work in February to open the spring season.
The Lady Flames carded a 310 and finished at 611 in the 36-hole tournament to finish tied for fifth with Seminole State. No. 13 Limestone College fired rounds of 297 and 290 for 587 total to win the tournament by 16 strokes over Lenoir-Rhyne. No. 18 St. Edwards (603) and Flagler (604) finished third and fourth respectively.
Freshman Carson McKie paced the Lady Flames with rounds of 73 and 78 (151) and was tied for 12th. Fellow freshman Emily Felix followed right behind with a pair of 76's to finish tied for 18th. Junior Haverly Harrold carded an opening round 76 but dipped to an 81 in round two. Annika Gino and Judianne Speach both tallied two rounds of 6-over 78 to finish at 152 in a tie for 40th.
Mindi Puangcharoen of Wingate made a par on the first playoff hole (hole #1) to win medalist honors. Reme Cortes of Limestone had a bogey on the same hole and finished second. Both players ended with an even par 144 total.