June 10, 2011
IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa men’s golfer Vince India and former UI Head Women’s Golf Coach Diane Thomason will represent the United States at the World University Games in Shenzhen, China Aug. 12-23. India has been selected as a member of the men’s golf team, while Thomason is the Head of the USA Delegation and will serve as the women’s head coach.
India was one of five collegiate golfers selected to the team and will be joined by Jace Long (Missouri), Jason Millard (Middle Tennessee State), Alex Carpenter (Abilene Christian) and Nick Benton (Arkansas-Little Rock).
“I’m thrilled to represent the USA at the World University Games,” India said. “This is a great chance to play golf against some of the top young players in the world. The World University Games is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I’m very excited for the competition.”
India is coming off one of the best individual seasons in Iowa men’s golf history. He was named Big Ten Player of the Year, earned the Les Bolstad Trophy for the lowest stroke average in the Big Ten (71.08), was named first team All-Big Ten and set the school record for the lowest single-season stroke average in Iowa history. He earned individual titles at the Golfweek Conference Challenge, the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate and the Hawkeye-TaylorMade Invitational as a senior.
Thomason has been affiliated with USA Golf since 1986, taking women’s teams to both the World Golf Championships and the World University Games. She served as Iowa’s women’s head coach for 27 years, guiding the Hawkeye women to the Big Ten title in 1991. She was national Coach of the Year in 1985 and 1990 and Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year in 1990 and 1991. She was inducted into the National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA) Hall of Fame in 1994-95.
“The World University Games is a once in a lifetime experience for collegiate athletes,” Thomason said. “They have the opportunity to represent their country in a very competitive event, which includes players from all over the world. Our USA team is a strong team of players. I am excited to see them play and I expect good things to happen.”
Both the men’s and women’s team will compete Aug. 17-20 at Mission Hills in China. The men’s team will play the World Cup Course, while the women will play the Vijay Course. The tournament will be a 72-hole stroke play format.
The World University Games are held every two years, but this is just the second time that golf has been included as a sport. Each host country can choose up to six optional sports to include in the World University Games, and Thailand was the first country to add golf in 2007. Golf was not included in 2009.
Current UI Head Men’s Golf Coach Mark Hankins served as Team USA’s men’s head coach in 2007.