Nicholas leads the way as Drexel opens spring campaign with victory in Advance Golf Partners Collegiate

   The Drexel Dragon emerged from a long winter’s nap breathing fire.

   Opening the spring portion of the wraparound 2022-2023 season at the Advance Golf Partners Collegiate, which wrapped up Tuesday at the Hammock Creek Golf Club in Palm City, Fla., Drexel pulled out a three-shot victory over host North Carolina Greensboro.

   Drexel was led, as usual, by talented junior Drue Nicholas, the St. Augustine Prep product from Egg Harbor Township, N.J. who finished in a tie for second place in the individual standings behind runaway winner Nick Lyerly, a UNCG graduate student from Salisbury, N.C.

   But head coach Ben Feld’s Dragons also got two other top-10 finishes as Griffin Mitchell, a junior from New Albany, Ohio ended up alone in fifth place and Tafadzwa Nyamukondiwa, a junior from Zimbabwe, landed among a trio of players tied for ninth place.

   It all started with Nicholas, though, as his first competitive round of the spring was a spectacular 6-under-par 66 over the 7,169-yard, par-72 Hammock Creek layout. Sunday’s opening round was played in difficult conditions with the winds of a Florida February howling, none of which seemed to bother Nicholas.

   Nicholas started his college career on the fast track toward a pro career at Atlantic Coast Conference power North Carolina State. But he changed his plan with a focus on a career in finance and came home to Drexel, where he has been the best Division I college player in the Philadelphia area for more than a year now.

   Gaining some momentum from a dramatic playoff victory over BMW Philadelphia Amateur champion Michael R. Brown Jr. in the Patterson Cup, one of the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s major championships, at St. Davids Golf Club in August, Nicholas had a strong fall campaign at Drexel.

   Nicholas closed out the fall with a runnerup finish in the ODU/OBX Intercollegiate at Kilmaric Golf Club in Powells Point, N.C. in defense of the individual crown he had won there a year earlier and then claimed medalist honors with a 3-under 69 at Tavistock Country Club in leading the Dragons to the team crown in the City 6 Championship.

   Nicholas was still atop the leaderboard after carding a 4-under 68 at Hammock Creek in Monday’s second round, a shot clear of Lyerly, who is No. 91 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) and blitzed the Hammock Creek layout with a sizzling 8-under 64 in the second round.

   Nicholas ran out of gas a little in Tuesday’s final round, but his 5-over 77 still left him in a tie for second place, seven shots behind Lyerly with a 5-under 211 total.

   Nicholas’ strong opening round helped Drexel post a 5-over 293. A 1-under 287 in Monday’s second round left the Dragons tied for second place, three shots behind UNCG, a Southern Conference representative that began the week at No. 50 in the Golfstat rankings, but fell back to No. 59 in the aftermath of the Advance Golf Partners.

   With Mitchell, among others, picking up Nicholas by recording a final round of 4-under 68, Drexel, No. 126 in the Golfstat rankings, closed with a 5-under 283 to finish with a 1-under 863 total.

   UNCG closed with a 1-over 289 as the Spartans earned runnerup honors with a 2-over 866 total.

   “What an unbelievable moment for the entire Drexel golf family,” Feld, who earned himself a trip to the U.S. Amateur at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J. last summer, told the Drexel website. “Our guys work so hard and care so deeply about our purpose and each other. We knew we were going to have some level of rust coming out of our winter, but we committed to one another that we were going to be the toughest and scrappiest team in the field this week and we fought like crazy until the end.

   “Our guys are confident and to beat that field in our first event of the spring reconfirms that all of the goals we have set are fully within our reach. So proud of these incredible young men. We’ve just got to keep getting a little better each day.”

   There is really only one goal for a Colonial Athletic Association team like Drexel: Win the team title at the CAA Championship and earn a guaranteed spot in an NCAA regional.

   The Dragons were a distant third behind conference champion College of Charleston last spring at the Dataw Island Club’s Cotton Dike Course on St. Helena Island, S.C. and six shots behind runnerup UNCG. Nicholas finished in a tie for fourth place in the individual standings.

   There’s a long road to this spring’s CAA Championship, which returns to Dataw Island in late April, but Drexel’s victory in the Advance Golf Partners this week is definitely a stop in the right direction.

   Behind Lyerly’s spectacular 64 in the second round, UNCG surged with a 6-under 282 that gave the Spartans a three-shot lead over Drexel and Butler heading into Tuesday’s final round, but they were unable to hold off the charge by the Dragons.

   A couple of Big East entries, DePaul and Butler, accounted for the next two spots in the team standings as the Blue Demons finished in third place, three shots behind UNCG with a 5-over 869 total, and the Bulldogs were fourth, another four shots behind DePaul with a 9-over 873 total.

   DePaul opened with a 9-over 297 and added a 4-over 292 in Monday’s second round before closing with the best team round of the tournament, an 8-under 280.

   Butler had the lead after matching par in the opening round with a 288 and was tied for second place with Drexel after adding a 4-over 292 in Monday’s second round. The Bulldogs finished up with a 5-over 293.

   Another CAA entry, Elon, was a shot behind Butler in fifth place with a 10-over 874 total as the Phoenix bounced back from an opening-round 303 with a 1-over 289 in Monday’s second round before closing with a solid 6-under 282 in the final round.

   Elon was led by Matt Doyle, a sophomore from Summerville, S.C. who recorded a sparkling 7-under 65 in the final round to get a share of second place with Drexel’s Nicholas.

   It was also the spring opener for Villanova, another Big East entry, and the Wildcats, the runnerup to Drexel in the City 6 Championship at Tavistock last fall, finished in 13^th place in the 19-team field with a 35-over 899 total. Villanova had a little trouble shaking off the rust from the midseason pause as it added a 304 in Monday’s second round to an opening-round 303 before finishing up with a 4-over 292.

   It was a strong showing for Mitchell as he registered back-to-back 1-over 73s in the first two rounds before that final-round 68 that was so critical for Drexel and left him alone in fifth place with a 2-under 214.

   After opening with a 3-over 75 in the tough opening-round conditions, Nyamukondiwa carded a solid 2-under 70 in Monday’s second round before finishing up with a 71 that earned him a top-10 finish, his even-par 216 total leaving him a tie for ninth place.

   Brockton English, a sophomore from Shelby Township, Mich., struggled a little in the first two rounds, adding a 76 in Monday’s second round after opening with a 79 before finishing up with a 2-over 74 that left him in the group tied for 70^th place with a 229 total. All three of English’s scores, however, were counters for the Dragons.

   Rounding out the Drexel lineup was Oscar Maxfield, a graduate student from Salt Lake City, Utah who transferred to Drexel from Utah. Maxfield also struggled in the first two rounds at Hammock Creek, adding an 80 in Monday’s second round to his opening-round 86. But Maxfield came up huge in the final round with a 2-under 70 that was crucial to putting Drexel over the top.

   Senior Liam Hart, the 2017 PIAA Class AAA champion as a junior at Holy Ghost Prep, competed as an individual for Drexel and finished in a tie for 50^th place with a 10-over 226 total. After opening with a solid 2-under 70, Hart posted a 3-over 75 in Monday’s second round before struggling to an 81 in the final round.

   Lyerly represented UNCG as an individual in the NCAA Palm Beach Regional last spring and made a splash by grabbing the lead following an opening round of 5-under 67 at PGA National’s Champions Course.

   Lyerly trailed Drexel’s Nicholas by five shots at Hammock Creek after opening with a 1-under 71, but crept within a shot of Nicholas with his 8-under 64 in Monday’s second round. Lyerly closed with a solid 3-under 69 for a 12-under 204 total.

   Elon’s Doyle had opened with a 3-over 75 and added a 1-under 71 in Monday’s second round before his fast finish enabled him to get a share of second place with Nicholas at 5-under.

   Samford’s Matthew Smith, a freshman from Oklahoma City, Okla., finished a shot behind Nicholas and Doyle in fourth place with a 3-under 213 total as he matched par with a 72 in the opening round, added a 71 in Monday’s second round and closed with a 2-under 70.

   Three players – Valparaiso’s Caleb VanArrogan, a senior from Blaine, Minn., Butler’s Damon Dickey, a sophomore from Franklin, Ind., and Queens University of Charlotte’s Ollie Smith, a senior from England – finished a shot behind Drexel’s Mitchell in a tie for sixth place, each landing on 1-under 215.

   VanArragon bounced back from an opening-round 78 with a 5-under 67 in Monday’s second round before finishing up with a 2-under 70. Dickey opened with a solid 2-under 70 and added a 1-over 73 in Monday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 72. Ollie Smith added a 2-under 70 in Monday’s second round to his opening-round 71 before closing with a 2-over 74.

   Joining Drexel’s Nyamukondiwa in the trio tied for ninth place at even-par 216 were DePaul’s Artemly Yalovenko, a senior from Russia, and Old Dominion’s Jakob Henriksson, a junior from Sweden.

   Yalovenko added a 75 in Monday’s second round to his opening round of 1-over 73 before finishing strong with a 4-under 68. Henriksson added a solid 3-under 69 in Monday’s second round to his opening-round 74 before closing with a 1-over 73.

   Leading the way for Villanova was Ryan Pamer, a freshman from Hudson, Ohio who is coming off a strong start to his college career in the spring. After opening with a 75, Pamer added a 1-over 73 in Monday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 72 that left him in the group tied for 18^th place with a 4-over 220 total.

   Peter Weaver, a senior from Frontenac, Mo., also had a solid week for the Wildcats as he finished among the group tied for 24^th place with a 5-over 221 total. Weaver carded a 1-under 71 in the tough opening-round conditions, added a 76 in Monday’s second round and closed with a 2-over 74.

   Jonathan Elkins, a junior from South Deerfield, Mass., bounced back from an opening-round 79 by posting back-to-back 1-over 73s in the final two rounds to finish in the group tied for 45^th place with a 225 total.

   Vimal Alokam, a sophomore from Ypsilanti, Mich., finished in the group tied for 91^st place with a 235 total as struggled to an 82 in Monday’s second round after opening with a 78 before closing with his best round of the week, a 3-over 75.

   Rounding out the Villanova lineup was Jason Lohwater, a graduate student from Rochester, N.Y. who finished in the group tied for 107^th place with a 240 total. Lohwater, who transferred to the Main Line after a four-year career at Bucknell, struggled in the first two rounds, adding an 84 in Monday’s second round to his opening-round 83, but found his groove in the final round with a solid 1-over 73.

   Kyle Kinnane, a graduate student from Anaheim Hills, Calif. who transferred to Villanova after a four-year career at Loyola Marymount, and Josh Lavely, a freshman from Kewadin, Mich., competed as individuals at Hammock Creek.

   Kinnane added a 79 in Monday’s second round to his opening-round 77 before struggling to a final-round 87 that left him in a tie for 112^th place with a 243 total. Lavely’s best round was a 4-over 76 in Monday’s second round. He opened with an 83 and closed with an 85 to finish a shot behind Kinnane in the group tied for 114^th place with a 244 total.