Taking extra time to work on chipping and putting tends to have a positive effect on golf scores.

The Iowa men’s golf team put in extra work on its short game before Tuesday’s final round of the Gopher Invitational, helping the Hawkeyes post the third-lowest score of the day as they finished in fifth place out of 12 teams with a final score of 878 (14 over).

The extra work benefited junior Vince India, who finished in a fourth place tie overall after posting a 215 (1 under) at Spring Hill Golf Club in Wayzata, Minn.

The Deerfield, Ill., native closed with two-consecutive scores of 70 (2 under) after a 75 in the first round. The junior said he played too aggressively and made bad decisions in the first round, but said he was able to calm himself down and put in extra work to finish strong.

“I made a couple of pretty big 10-footers for par early to keep my round going,” he said. “I also made a couple of good eight to 15-foot birdies on the back nine that helped.”

Southern Methodist University won the tournament handily, posting an 855 — 10 strokes better than second place Arkansas — while the Mustangs’ sophomore Kelly Kraft claimed the overall championship with a 201.

After placing second behind Florida State in the Golfweek Conference Challenge on Sept. 1, the Hawkeyes had a lot of confidence heading to Minnesota, but head coach Mark Hankins said the team didn’t start the tournament with the ideal competitive mindset.

“It was almost like we were still in practice mode in the first round, and it took a little while for them to get it going,” he said. “Some of it is experience and patience, and we failed at that this weekend and finished in the middle of the pack.”

Hankins said he was happy to see the team improve its score in the final round — the Hawkeyes posted scores of 294, 294, 290 — and noted that the courses greens took some getting-used-to.

“Most of our guys just didn’t get adjusted to the speed of the greens after the practice round,” he said. “That is definitely something we have to do a better job of. We seemed to get it by the end of the tournament, but it was too late by then.”

Sophomore Brad George, who played in his first collegiate tournament of the season, posted a 72 in the final round to help him finish at 220, tied for 16th.

“It felt good to be back in the lineup, and I was happy with how I handled myself every time I got a little behind,” he said. “After the second round, I worked on my putting and keeping my head down, and it definitely transferred through the final round.”

Hopfinger, who won his first collegiate tournament at the Golfweek Conference Challenge, birdied two of his last three holes to tie for 21st at 222.

Sophomore Barrett Kelpin had a tough double-bogey on hole No. 9, but picked himself up with three birdies and one bogey on the back nine to finish with a 223 for a 27th place tie. Sophomore Chris Brant carded a score of 226 to finish tied for 38th.

The Hawkeyes don’t compete again until Sept. 28, when they will travel to Richmond, Va., for the VCU Shootout. Hankins said the team needs to improve on being mentally prepared at all times, but thought the road trip to Minnesota should help the team’s experience.

“I feel like we weren’t quite prepared for [the Gopher Invitational], and we need to do a better job individually and holding each other accountable to compete for a championship,” Hankins said.

“This trip was a little different because our first one was at home, so it will help us mentally in the next one.”