WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake men's golf team completed play at its home tournament, the Zach Johnson Invitational, on Tuesday and ended up in fifth place with a 54-hole score of 874 (292-296-286).
North Dakota won the team title shooting 853 (287-281-285) over the two days of competition. South Dakota finished runner up to its northern counterpart three strokes behind at 856 (291-285-280).
"We dug too big of a hole yesterday," Drake head coach
Matt Lewis said. "As a team, we just didn't play our best. We really struggled on the par fives and we didn't make enough birdies. I thought we hit the ball pretty well, we just didn't score. I was proud of how the team battled today. We played our best round of the tournament for us in the final round."
Of the main Bulldog lineup, junior
Jake Weissenburger had the best finish on the leaderboard and tied for 10th. The local product from Clive, Iowa, tallied a total score of 216 to lead the Bulldogs and earn his first top-10 result of the fall season. Weissenburger carded rounds of 75-73-68 en route to his top-10 finish. His final round score of 68 was the low round of the tournament for Drake.
Senior
Nate Spear and Freshman
Sammy Bonaobra placed just inside the top-20 with the pair of Bulldogs tying for 19th at 218. Spear began the tournament with a 1-under, 70 and proceeded to shoot rounds of 77 and 71. Bonaobra was consistent over his three rounds with scores of 73-72-73.
Making his collegiate debut at the Zach Johnson Invitational was freshman
Luke Bohmer. The Temecula, California, native carded a total score of 224 (74-76-74) and ended in a tie for 32nd.
After carding an 81 in his opening round,
Sam Johnson bounced back with consecutive rounds of 75 to finish tied for 50th at 231.
"Sam was dealing with an injury all three rounds and gave it his best effort," Lewis said. "I was impressed with his grit and ability to fight through the pain. It was great to see Jake bounce back again in the final round. He was solid all day today. Nate and Sammy had a good tournament and helped the team out with their consistent play."
The Bulldogs also had three individuals compete in the tournament.
Parker Payne tied with Bohmer for 32nd (80-71-73=224),
Chase Pickering tied for 39th in his collegiate debut (72-78-76=226), and
Dylan Drogemuller tied for 50th with Johnson (78-77-76=231).
South Dakota's Jack Holtz claimed individual medalist honors firing a total of 5-under, 208 (68-70-70).
"We are ready for some time to work on some things and get quality practice in after three straight tournaments," Lewis added.
Drake will take a week off before it returns to action at the Grier Jones Shocker Invitational, Oct.5-7, from Sand Creek Station Golf Club in Newton, Kansas.
