May 5, 2014
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa men’s golf team has been selected to the NCAA Columbia Regional, earning its sixth-consecutive NCAA appearance, the NCAA golf committee announced Monday morning. The NCAA Columbia Regional, hosted by Missouri, will be held at The Club at Old Hawthorne on May 15-17.
Teams were selected to one of six regional sites, with 13 or 14 teams competing at each location. The Hawkeyes are the No. 6 seed in the Columbia Regional.
The top five teams, along with the top individual not on a qualifying team from each region will advance to the NCAA Finals held at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kan., on May 23-28.
The Hawkeyes have qualified for NCAA Regional competition in six consecutive seasons. Iowa will be seeking its fourth NCAA Championship Finals berth in the past six years and the 15th appearance in program history. The Hawkeyes join Illinois and Northwestern as the only Big Ten schools to appear in NCAA Regional competition for the last six years.
Last year, Iowa placed 11th at the NCAA Tallahassee Regional. Steven Ihm led the Hawkeyes with a three-over-par 219 in 36 holes, tying for 38th. Iowa last qualified for the NCAA Finals in 2012 after placing fifth in the NCAA Athens Regional. The Hawkeyes would go on to place 22nd in the Finals.
In order of their respective seeding (Golfstat.com national ranking in parentheses), the Columbia Regional consists of Oklahoma State (2), Virginia (11), LSU (14), Arkansas (24), Arizona State (26), Iowa (35), San Diego State (38), Missouri (46), Iowa State (52), Middle Tennessee State (59), Ohio State (63), Denver (129), Loyola (Md.) (149), and Bryant (233).
Iowa is one of six Big Ten teams to advance to regional competition, joining Illinois, Minnesota, Purdue, Northwestern and Ohio State in postseason play. The remaining five regional sites will be hosted by Auburn, North Carolina State, Northern Illinois, Oregon and Texas-San Antonio.
The Hawkeyes captured third place for the second-consecutive year at the Big Ten Championships at the Pete Dye Course on Sunday. The Hawkeyes carded a four-under-par 284, the lowest 18-hole score of the tournament, in their final round to move from sixth place to third. Iowa moved up the board significantly after standing in a tie for ninth after the first round. Minnesota captured the team title with a 72-hole score of 1,186 (+34). Iowa posted a four-round total of 1,194 (+42), finishing eight strokes back. Illinois finished second (1190, +38).
Senior Steven Ihm paced the Hawkeyes in French Lick, finishing in fifth after carding a career-best 295 (+7) in 72 holes. The Peosta, Iowa native earned a spot on the Big Ten All-Championships team. Junior Ian Vandersee finished in a tie for seventh after posting a 299 (+11), the best 72-hole score of his career.
Iowa has recorded strong finishes in its last four events. The Hawkeyes were runner-up at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational before winning the Hawkeye-GRE Invitational and Boilermaker Invitational.