The No. 2 Lee men's golf team ended the 2022 Fall Season in style with two-stroke victory over host West Florida at the Copperhead Championship at the Innisbrook Resort Copperhead Course on Tuesday.
The defending national champions fired a sizzling final round 283 for a team total of 853 to clip the No. 3 Argonauts (855). Tampa (862) placed third while No. 4 North Georgia and No. 20 Saint Leo tied for fourth at 871. All totaled the Flames took down nine nationally ranked teams.
"I'm really proud of these guys, and how they competed this week. It was a big-time win, on a challenging course. Coming off a poor showing in Michigan a couple of weeks ago, I love the way our team has responded since then. It says a lot about the player leadership we have on this team and shows what these guys are made of," said Lee Director of Golf John Maupin.
All-American Beck Burnette capped off a sensational fall season with rounds of 71, 69 and 69 (209) and finished tied with teammate and fellow All-American Ollie Lewis-Perkins (69, 70, 70) in third. The duo was just two shots of the individual champion Matt Millar (207) and runner up Felipe Garces Garzon (207). Millar, from Colorado State-Pueblo, outlasted West Florida's Garzon in a playoff
"Beck ended a great semester; I think every round he played was par or better. And then, Ollie came through in a big way this week, it was good to see him up there in contention where he belongs," added Maupin. "This was definitely our most complete effort of the Fall in terms of contributions from everyone in the lineup. Bennett was solid all week and started the first round 5 over before battling back to 1 over. And Dalton gave us a big lift today with a final round 69."
Sophomore Dalton Chuba stepped up on the final 18 and fired a 3-under 69 and finished tied for 20th at 218. Bennett McNabb has inserted himself into the lineup and was solid carding a 72, 74 and 75 for a 221 and 30th place finish. Connor Pollman fired a 1-under 71 to begin the tournament in round one, followed by a 74 and 77 to end the event at 222 at tied for 37th. Harrison Smith played as an individual and registered a 73, 72, 74, 219 to finish tied for 22nd. He was the second best individual finisher in the field.
"We put ourselves in contention this week and handled the pressure really well. We were down probably four or five shots late in the round and stepped up with a string close on the last 3-4 holes. Win or lose that's always great experience for our team. This was a strong win and a great way to end the Fall season. Go Flames," concluded Maupin.
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