May 6, 2013
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa men’s golf team has been selected to the NCAA Tallahassee Regional, marking the program’s fifth consecutive NCAA appearance, the NCAA golf committee announced Monday evening. The NCAA Tallahassee Regional, hosted by Florida State, will be held at the Golden Eagle Country Club on May 16-18. The NCAA announced the entire regional fields Monday evening.
Teams were selected to one of six regional sites, with 13 or 14 teams competing at each site. The Hawkeyes are the No. 10 seed in the Tallahassee Regional.
The top five teams and top individual, not on a qualifying team, in each region advance to the NCAA Finals, held May 28-June 2 in Atlanta, Ga., on the Capital City Club Crabapple Course.
“We were prepared to travel to any of the six NCAA Regional sites,” said UI head coach Mark Hankins. “Florida State will do a great job of hosting and we look forward to our ongoing preparation this week and competition with some of the top teams in collegiate golf next week.”
The Hawkeyes have qualified for NCAA Regional competition in five consecutive seasons. Iowa will be seeking its fourth NCAA Championship Finals berth in the past five years and the 15th NCAA Championship appearance in program history. Iowa is one of only 22 NCAA Division I men’s golf programs to qualify for the NCAA Finals in three of the past four years. Each of those 22 teams advanced to regional competition this season.
The Black and Gold placed fifth in the 13-team NCAA Athens Regional last season with a three-round score of 866 (+14) and advanced to the NCAA Finals, where they placed 22nd. The Hawkeyes also advanced through the 2011 NCAA Regional with a fourth place finish. Iowa went on to place 10th in the NCAA Finals, the highest finish at the NCAA Championships in the history of Iowa men’s golf. Iowa placed sixth in the 2010 NCAA Regional, missing the cut by a single stroke. With a 15-under three-round score, Iowa placed fifth at the 2009 NCAA Regionals before placing 17th at the NCAA Finals.
In order of their respective seeding (Golfstat.com national ranking in parentheses), the Tallahassee Regional will consist of Washington (4), Georgia Tech (7), Florida State (14), North Florida (19), Oklahoma (30), North Carolina State (42), Oregon (43), Oregon State (56), Iowa (54), South Florida (66), San Diego (70) and Loyola Maryland (205).
Iowa is one of four Big Ten teams advancing to regional competition, joining Illinois, Northwestern and Indiana in postseason action. The other five regional sites will be hosted by LSU, Ohio State, Arkansas, Arizona State and Washington State.
Individually, two Hawkeyes earned All-Big Ten honors this season. Junior Steven Ihm was named first team All-Big Ten. He paced the Hawkeyes with a 71.46 stroke average in the spring season and placed in the top-20 of every stroke play tournament in the spring. He earned co-medalist honors at the Hawkeye-Great River Entertainment Invitational (211/-5) and the Boilermaker Invitational (211/-5), becoming the first Hawkeye to earn medalist honors in back-to-back tournaments since 1970. Ihm has four top-10 finishes this season and played 15 rounds at or below par.
Sophomore Joseph Winslow was named second team All-Big Ten and earned a spot on the Big Ten All-Championship team after placing fifth at the Big Ten Championships. Winslow had the team’s second lowest spring stroke average, a 73.07. Winslow has tallied back-to-back top-five finishes. He was an honorable mention All-American last season after tying for 13th at the NCAA Championships.
Sophomores Brian Bullington and Ian Vandersee, and freshman Nate Yankovich round out Iowa’s lineup this spring season. Bullington has notched three consecutive top-24 finishes and kept a 73.92 stroke average in the spring. Vandersee played three rounds at or below par in the spring season, and tallied his best finish of the spring with an 11th place showing at the Hawkeye-Great River Entertainment Invitational. Yankovich broke into the top-five lineup and played every stroke play tournament in the spring with a 75.69 stroke average and a top-20 finish at the Hawkeye-Great River Entertainment Invitational.
The Hawkeyes enter NCAA Regional competition after three-consecutive top-three finishes, including a team title at the Boilermaker Invitational.
NCAA TALLAHASSEE REGIONAL
May 16-18
Golden Eagle Country Club
1. Washington
2. Georgia Tech
3. Florida State
4. North Florida
5. Oklahoma
6. Wake Forest
7. North Carolina State
8. Oregon
9. Oregon State
10. Iowa
11. South Florida
12. San Diego
13. Loyola-Maryland