DADE CITY, Fla. – In the first tournament of the spring semester, the Lee University men's golf team finished fifth at the Saint Leo Invitational. In a tournament that featured six teams in the top 25, Lee came in fifth place with a score of 853. The Flames finished 14 strokes behind the winning team, Florida Southern College.
 
Lee shot a 286 in round one then a 277 in round two and a 290 in round three. Host school Saint Leo University came in second with a 841. Nova Southeastern University came in third with a 843 and Lynn University was fourth with a score on 845.
 
Nico Palmquist, and independent from the University of South Florida won the tournament with a score of 202 (68-69-65)
 
George Cordall was the top finisher for the Flames. He tied for tenth with a score of 210 (73-66-71). Freshman Billy Boroughs was tied for 21^st. He shot a 69-72-72 for a final of 213.
 
Bennett McNabb was tied for 34^th. He shot a 216 (73-71-72) over the three rounds. Noah Farland was tied for 42^nd with a score of 218. (75-68-75).
 
Drew Zielinski competed as an independent and came in 49^th. He shot a 74-72-73 for a 219. Matthew Render rounded out the field for Lee with a 74^th place. He shot a 224 (71-73-80).
 
Lee will return to action on March 9 at the First Federal Southeastern Collegiate in Valdosta, Ga.
 
Coach Evan Spence's Thoughts:
 
"Definitely not the week we wanted this week to kick off the spring season. We fought back from a really slow start yesterday morning to pull within a few shots of the lead early in the final round this morning but ultimately played our way out of contention late in the front nine and into the early portion of the back nine today. We expect to have a chance to win the golf tournament coming down the stretch in every event we tee it up in and that wasn't the case today so we've got some things to clean up over the next few weeks before we compete again in Valdosta."