Lee Golfers Second At Golfweek NCAA D2 Invitational
Tuesday, October 8, 2019
No. 17 Lee men’s golf team continued its quality play this fall with a second place finish at the Golfweek NCAA D2 Invitational on Tuesday.
Rain shortened the tournament to just 36 holes and once again it was freshman Beck Burnette leading the charge for the Flames with an opening round 3-under 69 and final round even-par 72 for a 141 total and third place finish. Senior Evan Spence tied for sixth with a 70-75-145 and sophomore Connor Pollman followed right behind at 72-74-146 (T9).
“Another really strong finish from our guys this week.
I felt like we really separated ourselves from a lot of teams and did a good job of getting in contention. We had one too many mistakes today to catch Barry, but I thought we stayed focused after a couple of miscues and still posted a respectable round,” said head coach John Maupin.
No. 4 Barry took home the team title with a 567 total while the Flames finished 11 shots back at 578. No. 18 Cal State Monterey Bay (597), Regis (598) and Texas A&M International (602) rounded out the top five.
Dylan Lillard carded a 75 on Monday and an even par 72 on Tuesday and placed T14 for the Flames. Scott Odell followed with a77-74-151.
“We get a little closer each time out to being where we want to be. We’ve got a lineup of guys capable of scoring low, so we’re always looking to see who’s gonna step up for us. Beck had another good showing this week. He got off to good starts both days, and I thought that was a big key for him, he also played with a lot of maturity throughout the tournament,” added Maupin. “The first round Evan and Connor had really strong finishes to their round, and I loved to see that. I think we’ve got a tough group of guys, we just need to keep working and striving for more.”
A.J. Ewart (Barry) fired consecutive rounds of 4-under par 68 to win the individual title. Elis Svard (Cal State Monterey Bay) was second at 140, four shots back while Burnette’s 141 was third.
The Flames will take a week off before closing out the fall in Carrollton, Ga. For the Matt Dyas Invitational hosted by West Georgia on Oct. 20-22.