July 6, 2010
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AMES, IA — University of Iowa sophomore Ryan Marks took second place at the 22nd Iowa Golf Association (IGA) Match-Play Championship July 1. Marks was seeded 15th in the 64-man bracket, which competed at Coldwater Golf Links in Ames.
Marks moved out of the opening round with a 4 & 3 win over West Des Moines’ Blake Waller. He then knocked off Sam Zoske of Marshalltown in an impressive 5 & 3 decision before beating second-seeded J.D. Anderson, also from West Des Moines, 3 & 1. Marks’ quarterfinal match ended in a 4 & 3 win over Des Moines native, Brad Reierson.
In the semifinal round, Marks defeated Nathan Leary of Waterloo 1-up to advance to the finals. Marks fired five birdies on the first seven holes to jump out to a 2-up advantage which held through the front nine. Leary’s slow comeback brought him within one hole heading into the 18th, but a 12-foot putt from Marks gave him par and sealed the 1-up win and a trip to the finals.
Marks took on Cody Schweinefus of Decorah for the title. The match was all square through sixth holes before Schweinefus won the seventh and eighth to go 2-up. Another birdie for Schweinefus put him 3-up with five holes remaining, but Marks picked up wins on 13 and 16 to cut the deficit to one. Marks missed his 10-foot par putt on the 17th while Schweinefus drained his from an equal distance, sealing the 2 & 1 victory along with the title.
Marks was the lone freshman on Iowa’s 2009-10 squad. Competing in three different events for the Black & Gold, the Warrensburg, MO, native complied a scoring average of 75.8.