Valdosta boys, Colquitt County girls win Trojan Invitational

ALBANY — Despite the wind attempting to wreak havoc at Grand Island Golf Club on Monday afternoon, plenty of low scores were registered by the end of the 2016 Lee County Trojan Invitational.

The lowest boys score came from Valdosta, which won the tournament with a 307. On the girls side, Colquitt County shot 230 to secure the victory.

Lowndes tied with Tift for second on the boys, but Lowndes took the spot by virtue of a tiebreaker. The Valdosta girls came in second after registering a 245.

The Lee County Lady Trojans finished in last place in the tournament while the boys finished eighth out of the 12 participating teams.

The wind was consistent for most of the day, but at times the gusts picked up strength.

“The wind was a factor from tee to green,” Lee County boys coach Brad Cowart said. “I heard the kids say it even affected some of the putts. It was kind of part of it and we all had to play it.”

Jason Lee registered the lowest score for the Trojans. He shot a 73, which earned him a spot on the all-tournament team.

“I started off pretty solid,” Lee said. “I made a couple putts in the beginning but also left a couple short. I shot a 3-under on the front nine. On the back nine, the wind picked up and I just had trouble keeping the ball up.”

Lee said that the wind made him change his game plan on the fly.

“It affected me a lot,” he said. “I had to play different shots with my driver. I had to come up with different shots like low fades or low draws.”

The Trojans received an 84 from Sid Sorensen and a 88 from Nic Neff. TZ Grace rounded out the Trojans score with a 96.

“As a team we had a good performance,” Cowart said. “We have some golfers who are developing their game … we are just kind of enjoying the process of working on things. We definitely have some room to improve.”

Colquitt County’s Elizabeth Funderberk registered the lowest score on the day for the girls with a 69, while Valdosta’s Luukas Alakulppi matched it on the boys side.