LITCHFIELD PARK, Ariz. – The Drake men's golf team concluded its time at the Bell Bank "Pay It Forward" Collegiate on Tuesday and ended tied for seventh place. The Bulldogs started off the tournament strong with an opening round of 3-under, 285, but followed with rounds of 289 and 296 to drop some spots on the leaderboard.

"Overall, I was pleased with how the team played," Drake head coach Matt Lewis said. "We had a solid first round followed by a good second round. We struggled a bit in the final round. We got off to a good start in round three, but had a rough stretch from holes 7-11 and that really hurt us. As a team, I thought we hit the ball well. We just didn't make enough putts to take of our ball striking."
 
Individually, sophomore Jake Weissenburger continued his solid play over the spring season and finished in sixth place among the field. Weissenburger was consistent throughout the tournament finishing under par in all three of his rounds en route to his total score of 210 (70-69-71). In total, the Clive, Iowa native registered 13 birdies on his scorecard over his 54 holes, which ranked as tied for the sixth most among all competitors. He also fared well on the par-5's with a scoring average of 4.50 over the two days of play.

"Jake played great golf all three rounds and had another strong finish," Lewis said. "He is playing at a high level and has a ton of confidence."
 
Next on the leaderboard for Drake was fellow sophomore Sam Johnson. He ended his tournament tied for 27th at 217 (69-76-72). Johnson's efforts at the Bell Bank mark his second-best career outing following his performance at the GCU Invitational two weeks ago.
 
The rest of the Bulldog lineup was rounded out by Nate Spear, who tied for 39th, at 220 (70-72-78), Nikko Ganas at 224 (76-73-75) for a tied 61st finish, and Jack Dumas who ended tied for 77th at 231 (77-75-79).
 
Iowa State claimed the team title after carding a 20-under in the final round to finish with a total of 837 (291-278-268), which bested No. 49 ranked Marquette by two. Iowa State also had the top individual medalist in Zach May at 206.

"This was a strong field and a great test for us on a new course," Lewis said. "I like the momentum the team is building and we look forward to carrying it over to our next event."
 
The Bulldogs' next event will take place at the Tiger Intercollegiate, hosted by Missouri, April 7-8.