Senior Michael Drake fired a 4-under-par 66 in Friday’s final round at the Del Walker Intercollegiate to capture the individual title at the only fall tournament hosted in Long Beach.
Drake’s three-round score of 11-under 199 was enough to edge No. 41 Colorado State’s Riley Arp by two strokes and lift the 49ers to a second-place showing at the par 70 6,578-yard Virginia Country Club course.
“It’s his first college win at Virginia Country Club, so it’s pretty special to him right now,” said 49er head coach Bill Poutre. “I’m pretty happy on how the team played and came very close to winning our tournament.”
Drake fired a bogeyless final round and sank four birdies, including three on the back nine holes. Before teeing off his final round, the senior also drained an eagle on the par-5 18th hole to wrap up a second round that was cut short yesterday due to darkness.
“It feels pretty good and pretty surreal right now,” Drake said. “I knew where I was coming down the stretch with the last two rounds. I was pretty nervous, but I was able to stay calm. I told myself, win or lose that I was pretty satisfied the way I played today.”
Benjamin Lein also racked up a Top 10 finish after shooting a three-round score of 5-under 205 to land in a tie for eighth. Lein finished with four birdies on the back nine, allowing him to jump six spots on the leaderboard after concluding his final round.
Steve Gibson turned in a 5-under par final round to finish at 2-under for the tournament, allowing him to leap from 43rd to a four-way tie for 17th. The senior did most of his damage on the front nine with four birdies, including back-to-back at holes No. 8 and 9.
Kevin Roy registered a 2-under final round to finish at 4-over for the tournament. Good enough to land him in an eight-way tie for 38th place.
Raymond Ho landed in a five-way tie for 57th at 7-over, while Philip Chian placed 66th with a 9-over score.
Austin Love, who competed as an individual participant, finished in a four-way tie for 46th after going 5-over for the three rounds of competition. Robbie Berton, also competing as an individual, closed his tournament with an 18-over to finish 89th.
Colorado State bagged the team championship with a combined score of 20-under to finish ahead of the ‘Niners by nine strokes. No. 14 Oregon placed third at 8-under par.
LBSU returns to action Nov. 2 in Kahuku, Hawaii when the team kicks off the three-day Turtle Bay Invitational. The fall season concludes the following week starting Nov. 9 at the three-day CordeValle Intercollegiate in San Jose.
“This was one of the strongest fields we’ve had at the Del Walker and to come out beat teams such as Arizona and Oregon, shows that our team has the potential to play with anyone,” Poutre said.