April 10, 2012

Tech climbs two spots on last day at Grub Mart; Maxwell leads with final 69

Junior Lee Maxwell tied his career-best with a 69 on the finishing round Tuesday, helping the Tennessee Tech men's golf team jump to seventh place in the team standings at Jacksonville State's Grub Mart Intercollegiate.

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. -- Junior Lee Maxwell slammed his way to a final round 69 on Tuesday, one of only two sub-70 scores in the tournament, and climbed to an 11th place individual finish while helping Tennessee Tech jump a couple of teams in the standings to seventh place at the Grub Mart Intercollegiate, hosted by Jacksonville State.

The host Gamecocks shot a 54-hole team total of 897 and won the team title by a dozen strokes over Eastern Kentucky. The Colonels, one of six other OVC schools to join JSU in the field, finished at 909. Another OVC team, UT Martin, closed with the best team score of the day Tuesday at 298 to jump all the way to third place with a 922 final tally.

George Washington (925) was fourth and Morehead State (926) rounded out the Top 5. The remainder of the field included Lipscomb (931), Tennessee Tech (935), Our lady of the Lake (936) and Tennessee State (943).

After shooting rounds of 82 and 78 on Monday, Maxwell fashioned a three-under-par 69 to equal the low round of his Golden Eagle career. His 229 total placed him in a tie for 11th place on the individual leaderboard. He jumped past sophomore Greg Kitts, who entered the final round as the team's 36-hole leader following scores of 78 and 76 Monday. Kitts shot an 81 Tuesday and finished in a tie for 25th place at 235.

Sophomore Mason Griffin (75-80-82) was next for Tech, tied for 31st place at 237. Sam Schrock (83-81-77) finished strong on the final day and placed 37th at 241, while Travis Ramsey (76-85-87) wound up in 46th place at 248.

JSU's Tom Robson easily captured medalist honors by a seven-stroke cushion with a 216 total.

The Golden Eagles will be in Nashville next week for the Big Blue Classic, hosted by Tennessee State, as a final tuneup before the April 26-28 Ohio Valley Conference tournament in Dickson.