Lee University team wins TGA title

Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog

Lee University senior Courtney Shelton has a small unused picture frame just waiting to display a happy moment.

She may have found her picture Wednesday evening.

Shelton and Lee freshman Sam Burrus won the Tennessee Women's Four-Ball championship at Council Fire by shooting a 5-under 139 to win the tournament by five strokes.

"We played against each other one year in high school and we even played basketball against each other too," Shelton said. "We also played a lot of golf together during the summer since we're both from about the same area. I'm excited to have her on the [Lee] team this year."

The team of Chattanooga legend Georgia McCravey and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga coach Colette Murray shot 1 under on the day to finish runner-up at even-par. Cleveland Country Club legends Maggie Scott and Linda Mullins finished at 2 over to take third place.

The Lee duo began the final round with a three-shot lead. They gave back two strokes by the turn.

But they found plenty of birdies on the back. They found four, and they came on four straight holes beginning on No. 11 when Shelton rolled in an estimated 60-foot putt from off the green. She followed with a birdie on the par-3 12th. Burrus scored the birdies on Nos. 13 and 14. They combined to par out with relative ease on the closing holes.

"I think we both played our own game, but we did go off of who had the better shot, the better lie or better look at the green," said Burrus of their strategy. "We played the more difficult shot most of the time. And we helped each other when we had questions about what to do."

They shot a 2-under 70 in the final round with only the Murray-McCravey team joining them under par for any round of the two-day championship.

"Sam is great at reading putts and I need all the help I can get," Shelton said. "It's really nice to have a second voice and that makes you feel more comfortable with a shot or a putt. It's kind of like having a caddie on tour.

Some caddies and teammates do take pictures, too.

Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6484. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP.

Upcoming Events