COLUMBUS, Ga. - Lee's Peyton Sliger continued to play the finest golf of his career and the result was medalist honors in the (Columbus State) Cougar Invitational staged on Monday and Tuesday at the Columbus Country Club.
After firing rounds of 71-68 on Monday, the Lee senior came back with another 3-under par 68 on Tuesday and finished the 54-hole event with a 6-under par 207, one stroke better than Columbus State's Robert Mize who carded a 208.,It was Sliger's second college career victory.
"It was just an awesome win for Peyton this week," praised Lee coach John Maupin. "He was solid all week and did exactly what he needed to do in the tournament. I'm very proud of him and the work he has put in. He made a clutch birdie putt on 17 and that turned out to be the tournament winner."
Columbus State took team honors with rounds of 279-287-278 - 844, 8-under par. Lee finished second, six strokes off the top after posting 281-282-287 - 850. St. Leo and Florida Southern were tied for third (852) and West Georgia (854) rounded out the top five in a field of 16 teams.,
"Hats off to Columbus State today," said Maupin. "They played a real nice round of golf. It stings to come up short. We just didn't generate much momentum today, but our guys kept battling. It was a very good finish in a strong field (seven ranked teams).
Maupin added, "I like the way we bounced back from last week. We got some players trending in the right direction, so we just need to keep working hard and get ready for the next tournament."
While Sliger was leading the way, Taylor Davis slipped to an eighth place finish after rounds of 69-69 on Monday and his 74 on Tuesday gave him a 212 finish. Next came Adam Wright who tied for 15th (68-74-72 - 214). Shea Sylvester tied for 32nd (74-72-73 - 219) and Matt Strube rounded out the scoring (73-73-76 - 222) and a tie for 44th in a field of 89 golfers.
The Flames will go back to work and return to action on October 5 when they travel to Dahlonega, Ga. for the University of North Georgia Fall Invitational.
