Oct. 29, 2012
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DALLAS, Texas — The University of Iowa men’s golf team posted its top-two 18-hole scores of the fall season and sits in third place of the 14-team field at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate, co-hosted by Baylor and SMU at the Royal Oaks Country Club. Iowa carded rounds of 283 (-1) and 277 (-7) in the opening day of the tournament, and are three strokes back of the tournament leaders entering tomorrow’s final round.
Iowa’s second round is tied for the seventh best 18-hole score in program history. The Hawkeyes tallied their lowest 36-hole score of the season (560), topping their previous best by 23 strokes. Four Hawkeyes shot their lowest 18-hole round and 36-hole scores of the season. Iowa carded 33 birdies as a team on the day. Sophomore Ian Vandersee is tied for second at seven-under par (135), and sophomore Joseph Winslow is tied for 11th at three-under par (139).
Iowa trails Texas Tech, the tournament leaders, by three strokes as the Red Raiders sit at 11-under par (557). Vandersee is two strokes away from the top spot on the leaderboard, which is held by SMU’s Maxine Blandin (133/-9).
“We got better as the day progressed, and Ian’s 65 kept us in the thick of things until the other guys found their focus,” said Iowa head coach Mark Hankins. “Tomorrow will be a mental test to stay in the present, be aggressive and put ourselves in a position to contend for a team championship. Every team has nerves to deal with when they are in contention, and we are no different.”
Vandersee, a native of West Des Moines, Iowa, carded the lowest 18-hole score of his career and the fifth best round in program history, which was set by Chad McCarty with an 18-hole score of 62 in 1997. Vandersee opened with a 65 (-6) in the morning round, carding Iowa’s best individual round of the fall season. He made six birdies in his round, which was played without a single bogey. Vandersee shot a 70 (-1) in the second round, with birdies on holes 1, 5 and 14. He made nine birdies on the day, playing the par-fives at five-under par.
Winslow is tied for 11th individually after closing with his best round of the fall season, a three-under par, 68. After being one-over par through seven holes, the Overland Park, Kan., native played his remaining holes four-under. Winslow shot an even-par, 71, in the morning round. He was three-over par through 11 holes, but made birdie on holes 8, 10 and 14 to get to even-par.
Sophomore Brian Bullington is tied for 47th place, firing a 36-hole score of 146 (+4). Bullington opened the day with a six-over par, 77, but shot his best round of the fall season in the second round. Bullington carded a two-under, 69, in the second round to jump 22 spots on the leaderboard. Bullington played his final 10 holes at three-under, making birdies on holes 5, 8, 13 and 14.
Junior Steven Ihm is tied for 57th, firing a two-round total of 147 (+5). Ihm shot six-over par (77) in the morning with birdies on holes 14 and 8. He improved 12 spots on the leaderboard after shooting a one-under par, 70, to close the day. Ihm had three birdies and 13 pars in the second round.
Junior Ryan Marks tied his lowest 18-hole score of his career, and sits tied for 65th on the leaderboard with a 148 (+6). Marks opened with a one-under par, 70, after playing the final nine holes of his round at three-under par. He carded a 78 (+7) in the second round with birdies on holes 3 and 12.
The final round of play from Royal Oaks begins at 8:30 a.m. (CT) with opening tee times.