The University of the Cumberlands (UC) Women's Golf Program was looking for their first win of the 2012 spring season as they headed to Tennessee to take part in the Lee University Invitational.  The Patriots had themselves within striking distance after day one, but were unable to move up the leaderboard on day two as they finished with a solid 3^rdplace finish.  

On day one, the Patriots just 5 shots back of the leaders from Lee University as they shot an opening round 338.  Leading the way for the Patriots was Taylor Gillis (Lawrenceburg, KY) who shot a day one 83 (+11).  Following right behind Gillis was Liz Stephens (Tockington, Bristol UK) shooting a first round 84 (+12).  Laura Beth Harris (Glasgow, KY) followed Stephens shooting a day one 85 (+13).  Just trailing Harris was Chelsea Branscum (Somerset, KY) as she shot a first round 86 (+14). 

Rounding out the team was Shannon Bishop (Glasgow, KY) shooting an opening round 92 (+20).  Hannah Moore (London, KY) also participated for the Patriots as an individual in the tournament.  Moore shot a first round 93 (+21). 

Day two was much better for the Patriots, but they just couldn't cut into the lead that Lee had already built.  The Patriots shot a 327 on day two to finish overall with a team score of 665 behind tournament champions Lee University and runner-up Shorter University.  Harris cut 5 strokes off her opening round to finish round two with an 80 (+8), a total of 165 (+21), and tied for 7^thplace.  Stephens shot a 2^ndround 83 (+11) to finish at 167 (+23) and tied for 10^thplace.  Gillis also finished tied for 10^thafter a final round 84 (+12) to finish at 167 (+23).  Bishop cut 12 strokes off her day one total shooting an 80 (+8) in round two to finish at 172 (+28) and tied for 16^thplace. 

Branscum rounded out the team shooting a 2^ndround 91 (+19) to finish with an overall 177 (+33) and in 22^ndplace.  Individual Moore shot a final round 85 (+13) to finish at 182 (+38) and in 23^rdplace. 

Head Coach Chris Kraftick commented, "Monday's course setup was brutal.  So the scores were a little misleading from day one.  Two weeks in a row we have gone toe to toe with two of the nation's top teams.  Our goal is to look outside our conference and learn to compete on a national scale.  We are doing that with our schedule and I think it will pay off in the long run.  We have some short game work to do and at some point, we will need to figure out what our best lineup is."

The Patriots will be back in action on March 22^thand 23^thas they will host the 2^ndAnnual Southeastern Kentucky Invitational at Crooked Creek Golf Course in London, KY. 

For more information about the Patriot women's golf team as well as other Patriot athletics, please visit www.cumberlandspatriots.com.