DADE CITY, Fla. - The Drake University men's golf team defeated Eastern Michigan in the championship round Tuesday, Feb. 11 of the Earl Yestingsmeier Match Play event, 4-2, at Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club in Dade City, Fla.
The victory is Drake's first since last spring's weather-shortened Twin Oaks Intercollegiate in which the Bulldogs tied for first. It is Drake's first outright team win since 2011. Drake entered the event as the No. 7 seed and defeated the Nos. 2, 3 and 4 seeds to win the title.
"We started well again today and we were up in five of the six matches within the first few holes. The guys battled all day and did a great job competing," said head coach
Matt Lewis.
Chase Wicklund got Drake on the board with a 7-and-5 victory for his first win of the event.
Shayne Patel finished his stellar showing with a 3-and-2 win to leave Drake one match away from clinching the championship.
Eastern Michigan went dormie with two holes remaining in two of the four remaining matches, putting pressure on Drake to close out one of the other two matches. The Eagles went on to win both of those matches, 2-and-1 and 1-up.
Nick Pittman and
Tim Lim were both guaranteed to do no worse than tie their matches to secure Drake's third point and the tournament victory. Lim held onto a one-hole lead to win his match 1-up, and Pittman finished his round with a 2-up victory.
"It did get a little close at the end but they did a good job closing! So proud of this team and it feels great starting the spring with a win," said Lewis. "The guys put in a ton of time over break getting ready for the season and it paid off this weekend. [We] can't wait to build on this going forward."
Lim, Wicklund, Pittman and Patel were either leading or tied for the entirety of their respective matches. Patel trailed just one hole out of 43 played in the event.
The Bulldogs will be back in action for the Loyola Intercollegiate Feb. 22-24 in Goodyear, Ariz.
Round 3 Results: Drake def. Eastern Michigan, 4-2
Lim (Drake) def. Celone (EMU), 1UP
Wicklund (Drake) def. Mason (EMU), 7&5
Pittman (Drake) def. Collins (EMU), 2UP
Pelak (EMU) def. Scherf (Drake), 2&1
Sudinsky (EMU) def. Tan (Drake), 1UP
Patel (Drake) def. Rayman (EMU), 3&2
