PALM DESERT, Calif. – The Drake men's golf team was back in action for its first tournament of the spring season and wrapped up play the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate on Wednesday afternoon. The Bulldogs placed 13th in the tournament with a 54-hole total of 885 (291-300-294).
 
Sophomore Jake Weissenburger led the way on the leaderboard for Drake and tied for third place individually. Weissenburger began his tournament by firing a career-low 65 in his opening round, which had him tied for first. He proceeded to shoot rounds of 72 and 69 following his first round posting a 206 total, which marked a career-best 54-hole score for the sophomore.

"Jake was on all three rounds," head coach Matt Lewis said. "He hit the ball great for the entire tournament. He maybe only missed five to six greens in total. His putting was good, but I know he felt he left a ton of birdies out there. His finish of tied for third in this field is only a measure of how well he played."
 
Weissenburger carded 13 birdies over his three rounds of play and had a scoring average of 4.33 to finish 8-under on par-5's. His scoring average on par-5 holes was the second-best mark among all competitors.
 
Nate Spear and Jack Dumas finished 61st and tied for 66th, respectively. Spear fired a final round 67 en route to his 223 total score (78-78-67). Dumas ended his tournament at 225 (72-74-79).

"Nate played really well today and I was proud he bounced back after two off days," Lewis said.
 
Rounding out the Bulldogs' lineup were Nikko Ganas (77-76-79=232) and Dylan Drogemuller (77-81-79=237).

"It feels good to get our first tournament under our belt," Lewis continued. "We had a long four weeks practicing inside, so it was great to get outside and to be on grass. Overall, I thought we hit the ball really well. Our chipping and mostly our putting was off. We didn't make many putts this week. I think we improved each day and this week will help us moving forward. The tournament had a strong field with mostly southern schools, so this was a good test for us."
 
Charlotte won the team title at 833 (275-280-278) and Xavier Bighaus from Colorado Christian took home individual medalist honors with a total score of 204 (65-70-69).
 
Drake will compete next at the GCU Invitational from Phoenix, Arizona, March 11-12.