THE BASICS
The Drake men's golf team returns to Arizona for the GCU Invitational at GCU Golf Course in Phoenix, Ariz., (7,148 yards par 72 day one, 7202 yards par 72 day two)
March 14-15.
 
36 holes will be played on day one (7:45 a.m. MDT shotgun start) with another 7:45 a.m. shotgun start signaling the beginning of the final 18 holes on day two. The GCU Invitational will use a 5-count-4 format.
 
The 2022 field consists of GCU, TCU, Hawai'i , North Dakota State, S. Miss, Sacramento State, Valpo, Pacific, Drake, UTA, Creighton, Omaha, Columbia, Cal Baptist, ACU, Ball State, E. Mich., Northern Colorado, Fresno State, Kansas City, UIW and Cal State Fullerton.
 
LINEUP
1. Tim Lim
2. Nick Pittman
3. Lucas Scherf
4. Nikko Ganas
5. Jack Dumas
 
MVC PRESEASON POLL SUMMARY
Illinois State received six first-place votes and 77 total points to edge Valparaiso (70), Drake (60) and defending champion Loyola (58). 
 
LOYOLA (Md.) INTERCOLLEGIATE RECAP
Drake men's golf recorded its lowest team score of the Loyola (Md.) Intercollegiate on day three to finish sixth place (855, -9) out of 18 teams at Palm Valley Golf Club on Tuesday (Feb. 22).
 
Nick Pittman and Tim Lim are both catapulted up the leaderboard during the final round. Pittman shot a 68 (-4) and Lim with a third round score of 69 (-3) was just one stroke back. Pittman (211) drilled 11 birdies and had three eagles across three rounds. Lim (212) was consistent to conclude with 39 pars and eight birdies.
 
EARL YESTINGSMEIER MATCH PLAY RECAP
The Bulldogs claimed third place at the Earl Yestingsmeier Match Play event Feb. 7-8 in Dade City, Fla., at Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club. Drake defeated Loyola Chicago via tiebreaker in the first round before falling 4-1-1 to top-seeded Toledo. The Bulldogs won the third place match over Dayton by a 3-2-1 decision.
 
MVC GOLFER OF THE WEEK
Drake freshman golfer Nikko Ganas was selected as Missouri Valley Conference Golfer of the week, the league announced on Thursday (Feb. 10). 

Ganas won all three of his matches at the Earl Yestingsmeier Match Play event. The Schaumburg, Ill., native defeated Nick Bavaro of Loyola Chicago (6&5) in Drake's first round tiebreaker win over the Ramblers.
 
In the second round, Ganas won (3&2) over David Amm for Drake's lone victory in the 4-1-1 loss to top-seeded Toledo. In the final round with third place on the line, Ganas bested Dayton's Ethan Snyder (1UP) in the 3-2-1 match victory for the Bulldogs.