IOWA CITY, Iowa  — The Western Illinois men's golf team shot its best round of the tournament Sunday to finish the Hawkeye Invitational in third place.

The Fighting Leathernecks carded a team score of 285 Sunday to cap off a three-round total of 879, finishing four strokes behind Miami of Ohio and 16 strokes back of host Iowa, who took the Invitational title. Western finished two strokes ahead of Drake and four strokes ahead of Summit League rival UMKC.

“UMKC played really well today. Holding them and Drake off was a really good experience for us,” Western Illinois coach Mel Blasi said. “We have been close to UMKC every time we have played them. It has been back-and-forth, good competition.”

For the fifth tournament in-a-row, Western Illinois senior Kyle Peterman finished in the top two individually as the Sherman, Ill., native finished tied for second place with a score of 215 (70-72-73). Peterman shared second with Brad Reierson of Drake while UMKC's Alex Hogben took medalist honors at 209.

Behind Peterman, Leathernecks Brian Scott and Andrew Godfrey shared ninth place at 219. Godfrey shot the team's low round of the tournament with a career-best 67 in the final round, which he paired with a 77-75 from the first day, while Scott was steady throughout the tournament at 76-72-71.

“It was really great that Andrew Godfrey played as well as he did today with a 67,” Blasi said. “It was a great round and a great pickup for us from the five spot.”

Rounding out the scoring for Western, Jake Weeber tied for 37th at 228 (77-77-74) while Ryan Franks took 51st at 234 (75-80-79).

Playing as an individual, freshman Leatherneck Konrad Deka tied for 41st at 229 (79-77-73).

The Western Illinois men's golf team will compete in the 2010 Summit League Championship April 26-27 at the Entrada at Snow Canyon County Club in St. George, Utah

“This golf course was good for us to play because the greens are fast,” Blasi said. “There are a lot of similarities for us in the conference tournament.”