Four Lee golfers shot even par or better on the par 72, 6967 yards Achasta Golf Club course on Tuesday and earned the first-place trophy in the University of North Georgia Fall Invitational after tallying a final round of 278 to go along with Monday’s 284-274.
Shea Sylvester (65), Taylor Davis (68), Peyton Sliger (71) and Matt Strube (72) combined to not only establish a new school record (836) for a 54-hole event, but also set a tournament record for the North Georgia tournament.
Sylvester placed second in the individual competition with rounds of 75-66-65 – 206. Sliger was third as he continued to play under-par golf. He totaled 207 after turning in scores of 67-69-71.
Taylor Davis was just a stroke back (208). He carded rounds of 70-68-70. All three were named to the five-man all-tournament squad.
Strube rounded out the top Lee scorers on Tuesday. He was even-par (72) and combined with his 79-71 on Monday to finish at 222. Adam Wright recorded a 74 in the final round. He had earlier scores of 72-75 and tied for 41st place in the large field of 91 golfers, including 17 teams.
“Our guys did an outstanding job this week,” praised coach John Maupin. “We couldn't afford to come out and coast today. The guys responded and came out and earned this title. Obviously the scoring was phenomenal, but I think it was great attitudes and the process that allowed our team to keep getting more and not backing off after the first two rounds. This was a strong field and a great win for our team.”
Carson-Newman’s Andrew Hall put together back-to-back rounds of 66 to go with a first-round 70 in claiming the medalist honors with a 14-under 202, but the Eagles had to settle for second place (840) in the team standings. West Georgia (847) placed third, Georgia Southwestern fourth (849) and Young Harris rounded out the top five (860).
“I really want to brag on Shea,” added Maupin. “He came up big this week and really broke through. He's been playing this way for a month - it just hadn't quite come to fruition. He's done a great job of staying patient and letting it happen. But again I'm proud of all of our players. Everybody came through this week.”
The Flames will face another tough D2 field on Oct. 19-20 when they take part in the annual TVA Credit Union Classic in Killen, Ala.