Iowa Closes Fall at Royal Oaks Intercollegiate

Oct. 28, 2011

THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa men’s golf team travels to Dallas, Texas, for the 2011 Royal Oaks Intercollegiate Oct. 31-Nov. 1. Co-hosted by Baylor and Southern Methodist, the three-round event will be played on the par 71, 7,068-yard Royal Oaks Country Club. The first two rounds will be played Monday beginning with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. (CT). Tuesday’s final round will begin with tee times at 8:30 a.m. (CT). Fans can follow live scoring at golfstatresults.com or check out the tournament central page at baylorbears.com.

THE FIELD
The 14-team field includes eight programs ranked inside the top-50 by Golfstat.com. Joining No. 25 Iowa will be New Mexico (14), Duke (27), Baylor (28), Texas A&M (29), Tulsa (32), Oklahoma (33), Notre Dame (49), Army, Augusta State, Houston , Lamar, Missouri and Southern Methodist. Augusta State is playing as the two-time reigning Division I national champions.

THE COURSE
“Royal Oaks” course at Royal Oaks Country Club offers 18 holes of Bermuda grass with a course rating of 74.6 and slope rating of 142. Covering 7,068 yards from the tips, this par 71 holds the original layout and designs of J. Press Maxwell, Don January and Bill Martindale. Royal Oaks continues to be chosen as one of the best traditional layouts in the nation.

LAST TIME OUT
The Hawkeyes topped their best 54-hole total of the season on their way to a T-5th finish at the 2011 U.S. Collegiate Championship Oct. 23-25. Iowa capitalized on a strong 18th hole as it played the par-5 to six-under par as a team in the final round. With a third round of 284 (-4), the second-lowest round of the day, the Hawkeyes posted a tournament total of 868 (+4). Sophomore Steven Ihm and senior Barrett Kelpin also compiled their second-consecutive top-10 finishes of the season. Ihm tied for eighth with a score of three-under 213 as Kelpin finished T-10th with a mark of 214 (-2).

IHM BIG TEN POW
Ihm brought home Big Ten Golfer of the Week honors after a top-10 finish at the 2011 U.S. Collegiate Championship. With an opening round of four-under par, Ihm played consistent golf throughout the tournament and finished with a 54-hole mark of 213 (-3), tying his personal best as a Hawkeye.

2010 ROYAL OAKS
The Hawkeyes were crowned champions of The Royal Oaks Intercollegiate after inclement weather cancelled the final round. Iowa was in first place by five strokes after its opening day 36-hole score of 551 (-17). Vince India, a senior at the time, brought home medalist honors after recording first and second rounds of five-under par 66 for a two round total of 132 (-10). The 2010 Royal Oaks Intercollegiate title capped an incredible streak of four tournament titles put together by the Hawkeyes in the fall of 2010.

ROYAL OAKS HISTORY
The Hawkeyes have competed in the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate since it began in 2008. India’s back-to-back 66’s from 2010 stand in a tie as the third best 18-hole mark posted in tournament history. Iowa’s second round from 2010 (275, -9) is the second-best 18-hole team score while its opening round from last year (276, -8) is the third-lowest.

HEAD COACH Mark Hankins
Hankins is in his fifth 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 last season ranked ninth among all NCAA Division I teams. Hankins’ 2010-11 squad is coming off a 10th place finish at the 2011 NCAA Championships, Iowa’s best finish since 1960. After a second place finish at the 2010 Big Ten Championships, its best finish since 1992, Iowa placed third at the 2011 Big Tens. Hankins and company will look to make their fourth-consecutive NCAA postseason appearance this season.