March 27, 2012

One-under final round from Maxwell lifts Tech

Behind a one-under 71 from Lee Maxwell, Tennessee Tech moved up one spot in the final round to finish in a tie for ninth place at the Jim Bishop North Alabama Spring Classic on Tuesday.

Tech moves up one spot to ninth

MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala. – Behind a one-under 71 from Lee Maxwell, Tennessee Tech moved up one spot in the final round to finish in a tie for ninth place at the Jim Bishop North Alabama Spring Classic on Tuesday.

Maxwell fired his best round of the tournament over the final 18 holes, complementing rounds of 73 and 78 on Monday with his Tuesday 71. The junior from Cookeville, Tenn., led all Tech golfers and finished tied for 17^th individually out of 93 participants.

Tech also saved its best for last as a team, shooting a combined 301 on Tuesday to go with scores of 306 and 304 over the first two rounds. The Golden Eagles finished at 911 and tied Delta State for ninth.

The tournament was named for former Golden Eagle Jim Bishop, who played football and baseball at Tech from 1967-71 and was inducted into the TTU Sports Hall of Fame in 2009. Bishop is now a well-known business owner in the Florence, Ala., area.

Behind Maxwell, Mason Griffin was the second-lowest Golden Eagle, posting scores of 72-80-75=227. Travis Ramsey (77-75-78=230) and Greg Kitts (79-76-77=232) rounded out the Tech contingent. Tyler Cassetty withdrew from the tournament prior to the first round of play.

North Alabama, the host squad, won the tournament behind a final-round 68 from medalist Ricky Stimets. Stimets posted scores of 67-70-68=205 to lead the Lions, who finished at 859 overall, defeating second-place Wilmington by 26 strokes.

Wilmington (885), Huntingdon (886), Midwestern State (889) and Northern Kentucky (891) rounded out the top five.

The rest of the field consisted of Missouri-St. Louis (899), Cameron (902), Central Missouri (906), Delta State (911), Tennessee Tech (911), Central Alabama CC (917), Concord (927), Tampa (933), Wallace State CC (935), William Carey (941), New Orleans (974) and Martin Methodist College (982).

The Golden Eagles return to action at the Grub Mart Invitational hosted by Jacksonville State on April 9-10.