POWELLS POINT, N.C. – The Drake men's golf team wrapped up its fall season on Tuesday afternoon at the ODU/OBX Intercollegiate from Kilmarlic Golf Club and tied for third with William & Mary among the 15-team field.
The Bulldogs rallied in the final round to place in the top three firing a team score of 280 over the final 18 holes of play. Drake shot 288 and 289 over the first two rounds to complete their 54-hole score of 857. James Madison defeated Georgetown to win the team title in a sudden death playoff. Both squads shot a total score of 849 across the three rounds to get to a playoff.
"Overall, good tournament for us," Drake head coach
Matt Lewis said. "We battled the wind the first two days and round one was tough but I was proud of how the guys competed. Other than a hole or two we played great. Round two, I thought we played pretty well other than two holes. On hole three we were eight over as a team and hole 14 which is a drivable par four we hit great tee shots around the green, but didn't make one birdie. If we play those holes a little better we are only a few shots off the lead going into today.
"We knew we needed a big day today and we played okay on the front, but got hot on the back. We were really close and we felt we could have pulled out a win. Unfortunately, we made a few mistakes in our last couple of holes."
Sam Johnson had the best finish for the Bulldogs on the individual leaderboard and for the second consecutive tournament earned a top-10 result. Johnson placed in a tie for seventh at 211. The senior began the event firing a 1-under, 70 in his first round and followed with a 2-over, 73 in the second round. Johnson's last round was his best posting a 3-under, 68 which included an eagle on the par-5 12th hole. Johnson also led the field in scoring average on par-4's for the tournament at 3.89.
Next on the leaderboard for Drake was fellow senior
Jake Weissenburger who tied for 18th. Weissenburger played steady over his first two rounds opening with an even par 71 in round one and following with a 1-under, 70 in round two. In the third round he posted a 3-over, 74 giving him a total score of 215. Like Johnson, Weissenburger also had an eagle in his final round logging a two on the par-4 eighth hole.
"Sam had a great tournament and was really close to getting a win," Lewis said. "A couple bad breaks down the stretch cost him. He had a strong finish to the fall season. Jake had a goos showing as well, but was really up and down today."
Luke Bohmer,
Dylan Drogemuller, and
Sammy Bonaobra were the rest of the of players in the Bulldog lineup. Bohmer finished the highest on the leaderboard among the remaining trio tying for 46th at 219 (73-78-68) bouncing back from a second round 78 with a 68 in the final round to tie for lowest 18-hole score shot by a Bulldog during the tournament. Meanwhile, Drogemuller and Bonaobra both tied for 61st at 222. Drogemuller improved each day shooting 80-72-70 while Bonaobra posted three consecutive rounds of 74's.
"I was very proud of Luke and Dylan with their great play after having a slow start the first two rounds," Lewis added.
Top individual medalist honors for the tournament went to Michael Hake of James Madison who defeated George McGlinn of Georgetown in a playoff. The pair both finished with a final score of 4-under, 209 after 54-holes.
This brings an end to the fall season for the Bulldogs. Drake will return to action for the spring season in 2027 with a schedule to be announced at a later time.
