May 17, 2013
- Download your Iowa Hawkeye iPhone app!
- Download your Iowa Hawkeye Android app!
- Big Ten Network: Free Hawkeye Video
- 24 Hawkeyes to Watch
- NCAA Regional Round 2 Interviews
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The University of Iowa men’s golf team shot a team score of two-over-par 290, nine strokes improved from its opening round score, during second round action at the NCAA Southeast Regional here Friday. The Hawkeyes are in 11th place following 36 holes of play at the Golden Eagle Golf and Country Club.
Nineteenth-ranked North Florida leads the team standings with a two-day total of 549 (-27). Sixth-ranked Washington is second (551), 14th-ranked Florida State (553) is third and 43rd-ranked Oregon is fourth (562). Seventh-ranked Georgia Tech and South Florida are tied for fifth (564).
Sophomore Ian Vandersee shot a one-under 71 Friday for Iowa’s low round of the day. Sophomore Joseph Winslow, junior Steven Ihm and freshman Nate Yankovich each shot one-over for the day, while sophomore Brian Bullington carded a two-over par 74. Iowa sits at +13 (589) through two rounds.
“We had a little more determined mind set today,” said Iowa head coach Mark Hankins. “I think we learned from the course yesterday, some of the guys took a little more conservative approach taking bogey and double out of play, and it paid off with a lower team score.”
For the second straight day, Vandersee led the Hawkeyes with five birdies, including a birdie on his opening hole. His first nine included three birdies and three bogeys before he added two birdies and just a single bogey on his second nine. After playing the par five’s at seven-over Thursday, Vandersee was one-under on the same holes in the second round.
“Today it was managing my game a little better,” said Vandersee. “Thursday was the first time this spring I felt confident in my ball striking and iron play; I was overly aggressive on the par five’s and absolutely butchered those yesterday. Today I made sure to remove that possibility from happening again, so today was good ball striking and putting myself in the right spots to not have any big numbers.”
“Ian adapted to what this course gives you and made some better choices on the par five’s today,” said Hankins. “We need to continue to make aggressive confident plays to conservative targets in areas that require it. Let the birdies come and take the big numbers out of play.”
Winslow followed his even par first round with a one-over 73 on Friday. His round included an eagle three on the par-five 15th hole. He was even on the back nine and shot a one-over 37 on the front side to close out his day. Winslow recorded four birdies on a three-hole stretch on the back, but concluded the day with three consecutive bogeys.
“I felt like I was playing better today,” said Winslow. “But, I lost three shots coming in, and that was really disappointing. Overall, I struck the ball better Thursday, but today I put it a little closer on a few holes and I made a few more putts.
“My strategy today was to attack the par-five’s better,” added Winslow. “I was even going to 15 and hit a five iron just off the green. The putt was relatively straight downhill with a little break at the end. I put it right on the line I wanted and it felt good to see it go in.”
Ihm improved by one stroke on Friday with a solid back nine. Sitting at three over par at the midway point, Ihm put two birdies with seven pars to shoot a 34 on his second nine of the day.
Yankovich also recorded a 73 after opening the tournament with a 77. The freshman was two over after three holes before closing his front nine with six straight pars. He birdied holes 12, 15 and 18 on his final nine, to go with a pair of bogeys.
Bullington opened and closed his front nine with a birdie and sat at even par following two bogeys on his first nine holes. He had three bogeys and one birdie on his final nine of the day.
“As far as tomorrow, we need to let the round come to us again,” said Hankins. “We have to do our best, try to get on a roll and hopefully a couple of the guys get it going really low.”
The regional concludes with 18 holes of play Saturday, with the top five teams advancing to the NCAA Championships. The Hawkeyes will tee off in round three beginning at 7:20 a.m. CT Saturday.
Following are the team standings and individual leaders through two rounds:
Team Result (Par 72) 1. North Florida 272-277 – – 549 (-27)
2. Washington 276-275 – – 551 (25)
3. Florida State 277-276 – – 553 (-23)
4. Oregon 280-282 – – 562 (-14)
5. Georgia Tech 280-284 – – 564 (-12)
South Florida 280-284 – – 564 (-12)
7. Oklahoma 284-281 – – 565 (-11)
8. Oregon State 292-285 – – 577 (+1)
9. Wake Forest 284-296 – – 580 (+4)
10. North Carolina State 289-293 – – 582 (+6)
11. Iowa 299-290 – – 589 (+13)
12. San Diego 299-295 – – 594 (+18)
13. Loyola-Maryland 301-300 – – 601 (+25)
Individual Results (Top 3 + Iowa) 1. MJ Maguire (N. Florida) 65-68 – – 133 (-11)
2. Cheng-Tsung Pan (Wash.) 67-67 – – 134 (-10)
Chase Seiffert (Fla. State) 66-68 – – 134 (-10)
T37. Joseph Winslow (Iowa) 72-73 – – 145 (+1)
T47. Steven Ihm (Iowa) 74-73 – – 147 (+3)
T52. Ian Vandersee (Iowa) 77-71 – – 148 (+4)
T59. Brian Bullington (Iowa) 76-74 – – 150 (+6)
T59. Nate Yankovich (Iowa) 77-73 – – 150 (+6)