CHANDLER, Ariz. - Three Bulldogs carded 36-hole totals of 150 to lead the Drake men's golf team to a third-place finish at the Big Four Championship on Saturday (March 1) at the Lone Tree Golf Club.
The Bulldogs were competitive in their morning match with Iowa, but were unable to secure a point in a 6-0 setback against the Hawkeyes.
Led by a team-low 71 from junior Dane Worley (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) in the afternoon session, Drake bounced back to defeat Northern Iowa, 5.5 to 0.5.
“It was a nice bounce back effort in the afternoon against Northern Iowa as the guys won five of the six matches, halving the other,” Drake head coach Matt Lewis commented. “I'm happy with how we improved and got better and were able to convincingly beat one of our conference opponents. The guys felt good about that, but were a little disappointed leaving some strokes out there. All in all, it was a productive tournament that ended on a positive note for us.”
The Bulldogs benefited from scores of 71, 73 and 75, respectively, from seniors Matt Ohl (Milford, Iowa) and Connor Steele (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) along with sophomore Will McDonald (Tulsa, Okla.) against Iowa. The Hawkeyes posted scores of 67, 67, 69, 70, 71 and 71 versus Drake en route to victory.
“We were in three of our matches with Iowa with Connor (Steele), Matt (Ohl) and Will (McDonald) all within 2-3 strokes of their opponents,” said Lewis. “Matt (Ohl) was down one with a hole left when his opponent hit a birdie on the 17th hole to win the match, but all three matches were very competitive.”
Worley, redshirt junior Devin Leland (Huxley, Iowa), McDonald, Steele, freshman Karter Smith (Detroit Lakes, Minn.) and Ohl led the Bulldogs to a victory past Northern Iowa registering 71, 73, 75, 77, 78 and 80 scorecards, respectively.
“Conditions were tough in the morning as we dealt with rain before the showers gave way to windy conditions which made scoring tougher during the afternoon round,” explained Lewis.
Drake returns to tournament action traveling to Jacksonville, Fla., for the Benbow Invitational (March 10-11).
DRAKE RESULTS: Devin Leland (77-73=150), Will McDonald (75-75=150), Connor Steele (73-77=150), Matt Ohl (71-80=151), Dane Worley (81-71=152) and Karter Smith (82-78=160)
