Ramblers fall from First to Fifth at Zach Johnson Invitational

The Ramblers led Iowa State University by a single shot at the Zach Johnson Invitational after the first two rounds of golf Monday, but a poor third round dropped Loyola all the way down to a fifth-place tie. 

After a third-place finish in the River Run Collegiate, Loyola traveled west to Des Moines, IA for the Zach Johnson Invitational Sept. 23-24, hosted by Drake University.

Competing in a field of 14, the Ramblers got off to a hot start on day one thanks to strong play from third-year Dori Lee, who shot the two best rounds for Loyola, putting up 67 and 66 strokes in rounds one and two.

Behind Lee were redshirt third-year Zach Mulhearn and third-year Charlie Kulwin who finished in 27th and 33rd place. Mulhearn shot 219 (69-77-73) and Kulwin shot 220 (75-70-75).

Fourth and fifth for the Ramblers were first-years Clay Heilman and Connor Woodin who shot 223 (77-72-74) and 229 (79-74-76), putting them in 45th and 72nd in the field. 

First-year Alex Rasmussen competed individually for the Ramblers who finished tied for 11th overall at one over par with 214 (75-68-71).  

Loyola led the competition heading into Tuesday after finishing the first two rounds with 570 strokes (288-282), which put them a shot ahead of the eventual invitational champion, Iowa State.

The Ramblers faced trouble in the third round and their one-stroke lead was quickly overtaken after every member shot at least two strokes over the 71-stroke par. Loyola’s final tally in the third round was 296, giving them the fourth-worst round of day two. 

Champions Iowa State University finished with 272 strokes in round three, which was 10 strokes better than any round recorded during the invitational.

Even after a poor third round, head coach Erik Hoops was impressed with how the Ramblers performed at the invitational.

“We put ourselves in the mix again this week,” Hoops said. “It was a really fun first day and proved what we’re capable of. We knew we’d have to play our best golf today to get it done, and unfortunately, we just made some early mistakes and never got that momentum.”

Despite disappointing team results, Lee put up a personal best round when he shot a 66 in round two and his three-round score of 207 (67-66-74) was a career low. Lee’s total of 207 gave him a second-place finish overall, finishing seven strokes behind Bradley University’s third-year Connor Hamm (67-64-69).

Hoops said he was proud of Lee’s improvements from the previous season to this fall and how he’s seen it pay off. 

“Dori was spectacular this week,” Hoops said. “When he left last spring, he knew he needed to make some changes to his golf game to compete at this level. This week, it finally clicked in competition.”

The Ramblers get a week off before they head further west to the Throw Down Up Top hosted by the University of South Dakota in Homer, NE Oct. 7-9.