THE BASICS
The Drake men's golf team will head to Twin Oaks Country Club (Par 71, 6,760 yards) in Springfield, Mo., for the Twin Oaks Intercollegiate March 21-22 hosted by fellow Missouri Valley Conference member Missouri State.
36 holes will be played on day one (8:30 a.m. shotgun start) with another 8:30 a.m. shotgun start signaling the beginning of the final 18 holes on day two.
The 2022 field consists of Bradley, Central Arkansas, Drake, Loyola Chicago, Missouri State, North Alabama, UNI, Omaha, Oral Roberts, South Dakota, SIUE, UT Martin, Tennessee Tech, Valparaiso, Western Illinois and Wichita State.
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).
GCU INVITATIONAL RECAP
The Drake men's golf team had three golfers register at or below par in both the second and third rounds of the GCU Invitational at the GCU Golf Course on Tuesday (March 15). The Bulldogs finished the event in 18
th place after shooting a team score of 870.
Tim Lim (70-71-72-213) did not turn in a round over par during the entire tournament to finish tied for 27
th.
Nick Pittman (75-69-72-216) fired a team-low 69 during the second round and wrapped up the event tied for 46
th. Over 54 holes, Pittman notched a team-best 12 birdies.
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.