Sept. 15, 2010
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THIS WEEK — The University of Iowa men’s golf team, along with Spirit Hollow Golf Club in Burlington, IA, will co-host Golfweek’s Conference Challenge Sept. 19-21. In its second year, the challenge features 15 schools, representing 15 different conferences.
THE COURSE — The 18-hole “Spirit Hollow” course at the Spirit Hollow Golf Course facility continues to be ranked by Golf Digest as one of the top courses in the state each year. With 7,360 yards of golf from the tips, this par 72 has a course rating of 73.1 with a slope rating of 128 on Bent grass. Spirit Hollow opened in 2000 and was designed by Richard Jacobson (ASGCA).
THE COMPETITION — The 2010 Conference Challenge will feature Middle Tennessee State (Sun Belt), North Carolina State (ACC), SE Louisiana (Southland), Baylor (Big 12), Iowa (Big Ten), UC Irvine (Big West), Furman (Southern), New Mexico (MWC), Eastern Michigan (MAC), Nevada (WAC), East Carolina (C-USA), Virginia Commonwealth (Colonial), Liberty (Big South), Campbell (Atlantic Sun) and San Francisco (WCC).
LAST TIME OUT — The Hawkeyes are coming off a sixth place finish at the Golden Gopher Invitational in Wayzata, MN. The Black and Gold carded a team total of 900 (+36) while LSU won the event with a score of 869 (+5). Senior Vince India and junior Chris Brant tied for seventh with 54-hole totals of 220 (+4).
HEAD COACH Mark Hankins — Hankins is in his fourth year as Iowa’s head men’s golf coach after spending seven years as the head coach at Michigan State University. Under Hankins, the Hawkeyes finished the 2010 season with the highest national ranking in school history. Ranked 36th among all NCAA Division I teams, Iowa earned its best Big Ten finish (second) since 1992 and produced a NCAA Regional berth for the second-consecutive year. Additionally, the Hawkeyes picked up their second tournament title in as many seasons with a win at the 2010 TaylorMade-adidas Hawkeye Invitational. Hankins is a native of Mt. Pleasant, IA, and a graduate of Iowa State.
QUOTING COACH HANKINS — “Golfweek’s Conference Challenge is an opportunity for us to host a tournament, bring in national level teams and have the benefit of displaying our Iowa men’s golf program in a home setting.”