It took two playoff holes to decide the individual champion of the Big 4 Championship.

ISU men’s golfer junior Drew Dalziel (70-71-141), ended up in a tie for second place with Drake’s Matt Brooks (72-69-141). Winning the tournament was Jeff Berkshire from Drake with a score of 141(68-73).

“It was my best performance of the fall. I played well and hit the ball decent. Overall, I felt pretty good,” Dalziel said.

ISU coach Jay Horton said Dalziel has become a leader on the golf squad.

“Drew played well,” Horton said. “He’s the one person on the team who consistently improved throughout the fall season. He’s really developed a leadership role on this team.”

After 36 holes at the Elm Crest Country Club in Cedar Rapids, the winner had yet to be decided, which forced a two-hole playoff between the three golfers.

“My mindset was to make them lose the tournament,” Dalziel said. “I had to play solid, which I did. The second hole I had a good shot and got a bad lie in a bunker. There was a lot going through my mind during the playoff holes.”

Dalziel has consistently been the No. 1 golfer for the Cyclones this year but hasn’t necessarily been happy with his play this fall. He said Monday might have given him the momentum to get over the hump.

“It’s definitely a positive thing going into the offseason,” Dalziel said. “It was my best tournament in a year and a half. I hope I can shoot some lower scores though.”

Iowa State ended the tournament in fourth place with a score of 588 finishing behind Drake (569), Iowa (576) and Northern Iowa (587).

“We shouldn’t lose to the other three teams in Iowa. We need to figure out what’s wrong and do better in the spring,” Dalziel said.

Since this was the last tournament of the fall season, Horton said he was disappointed with the Cyclones’ play.

“We have never played well in that tournament, and we should always win that tournament,” Horton said. “I feel we have the best program in the state.

“It’s a bad way to end the season. You don’t want to finish last ending the season.”

The second-place finisher for the Cyclones, freshman Joe Cermak (72-70-142) finished in a tie for fourth individually. Unfortunately for the Cyclones, Cermak’s score didn’t count toward the team scoring because he was entered in the event as an individual scorer. That is the second time that has happened to the Cyclones as Dane Odden played a great round as an individual earlier in the season at the Missouri Bluffs Classic.

Freshman Chris Baker was the second scorer for Iowa State on Monday with round of 147(77-70). Rounding out the field for the Cyclones were Rodney Hamblin (75-75-150), Pat Hall (76-75-151) and Dane Odden (76-75-151).

Though it was a bad ending, the fall season can be looked at optimistically, considering the obstacles the team has gone through to get here, Dalziel said. “There’s only room for improvement in the spring,” he said. “We need to stay positive and come out strong in the spring.”