Balance was the name of the game as the Lee women’s golf team captured its own Lady Flames Shootout on Monday afternoon at the Cleveland Country Club.
With Caroline Moore leading the way (75-76 - 151), the Lady Flames placed three players on the five-member all-tournament team. Moore placed second
overall, while Sam Burrus tied for third place with her teammate Callie Kitchens.
Burrus posted a 75-78 and Kitchens totaled 77-76, giving both the 153 total.
Bernadette Little finished eighth overall (79-75 – 154) and Cailey Gino rounded out the Lee scoring for the day with an 82-79 – 181. The final spot on the all-tournament was claimed by Elizabeth England (78-75 – 153) and a tie with Burrus and Kitchens for third place.
The medalist honor was captured by Shorter’s
Gracel Paris. Her hole-in-one (the first of her career) helped the Lady Hawk tally rounds of 73-75 – 149.
As a team, Lee fired a 306 in Monday’s morning round and came back with a consistent 306 in the afternoon (611 total) to win the tournament by 21 strokes over second place Carson-Newman (632). Mount Olive (N.C.) was third (643), Shorter fourth (654) and Young-Harris (656) rounded out the top five in the eight-team field.
“I'm really proud of our girls for coming out and focusing, and then taking care of business,” said coach John Maupin. “There are positives of playing on your home course, but it also provides some challenges. I thought we handled those things very well. It wasn't flawless, but we battled hard and I know it feels great to pick up the win at our home tournament.”
Maupin added, “Individually we had several players step up. Specifically I’m very happy with how Callie (Kitchens) played today. She was a solid force all day and that was big for our team. As a
team we are showing some good signs of progress and that's what I really like.”