Hawkeyes to Compete at Southwestern Jones Invitational

Feb. 26, 2016

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THIS WEEK
Fresh off the Big Ten Match Play Championship, the University of Iowa men’s golf team continues its spring season with a trip to Los Angeles, California, Monday through Tuesday (Feb. 29-March 1) for Pepperdine’s Southwestern Jones Invitational. The two-day, 54-hole tournament will be held at the North Ranch Country Club.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Sunday, Feb. 28 — Practice round starts at 1 p.m. (CT)
Monday, Feb. 29 — 36 holes, shotgun start at 9:30 a.m.
Tuesday, March 1 — 18 holes, tee times off holes 1 and 10 starting at 9:30 a.m.

FOLLOW THE ACTION
Fans can follow this weekend’s action by visiting golfstat.com for live scoring.

LINK UP WITH THE HAWKEYES
For an inside look at the Iowa men’s golf program and to access exclusive coverage, “like” Hawkeye men’s golf on Facebook and follow @IowaHawkeyeGolf on Twitter and Instagram.

THE FIELD
Of the 15 schools scheduled to compete at the two-day event, fi ve are currently ranked in the top 50 in Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, including USC (11), San Diego State (23), Oregon (28), tournament host Pepperdine (35), and Augusta (37). The rest of the fi eld includes Boise State (183), BYU (141), Fresno State (98), Iowa (61), Lipscomb (52), Mississippi State (93), Northwestern (59), Sam Houston State (176), San Diego (146), and Winthrop (167).

THE COURSE
All three rounds of the Southwestern Jones Invitational will be played at the North Ranch Country Club. Created in 1976 by Ted Robinson, the North Ranch Country Club is comprised of three distinct nines — the Valley, Oaks, and Lakes courses — peppered with the community’s signature oak trees. Teams will be playing the Oaks and Lakes courses.

THE LINEUP
At the top of the Hawkeye lineup in the number one spot is junior Carson Schaake followed by senior Nate Yankovich. Freshman Matthew Walker, senior Voromate Aussarassakorn, and junior Raymond Knoll round out the Iowa lineup.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Monday is the first appearance for the Hawkeyes in the Southwestern Jones Invitational. The Southwestern Jones Invitational is the combination of two previously existing tournaments, the Southwestern Intercollegiate (started by USC in 1978) and the Jones Invitational (hosted by Pepperdine in 2014 and 2015).

LAST TIME OUT
The Hawkeyes opened the spring season with an eighth place fi nish at the Big Ten Match Play Championship (Feb. 12-13). Iowa kicked things off with a first round victory over Nebraska, but fell to Purdue and Michigan in the second and third rounds. The Hawkeyes faced the Wolverines again in a battle for seventh place. Both schools tied, 3-3, but Michigan was declared the winner after a tiebreaker was issued. Freshman Matthew Walker led the Hawkeyes with a perfect 4-0-0 record. He was one of six golfers to finish undefeated at the two-day event.

WALKER, THE FRESHMAN
Matthew Walker has competed in every event for the Hawkeyes this season and is the first true freshman to compete in every fall tournament for the Hawkeyes since Cole Peevler in 2005. The Ottumwa, Iowa, native competed in four events, averaging 73.67 strokes per round. He carded an even par 72, his lowest 18-hole score of the year, at the GolfWeek Conference Challenge. Walker’s best finish came at the David Toms Intercollegiate, where he fired a three-round 228 (+12) to tie for 28th.

OFF THE FIRST TEE
• Senior Nate Yankovich and junior Carson Schaake lead the Hawkeyes, averaging 72.92 strokes per round this season. Schaake finished with the second-best stroke average in program history last year (71.17)
• Junior Raymond Knoll has been Iowa’s top fi nisher two times this season, which includes his first collegiate title at the GolfWeek Conference Challenge.
• Iowa’s best finish of the season came at the GolfWeek Conference Challenge. The Hawkeyes took home the tournament title with a 54-hole 842 (-22) — the fifth best 54-hole score in program history.
• Iowa’s lowest round of the season came in the second round of the GolfWeek Conference Challenge (273; -15). Yankovich and Schaake both carded a six-under-par 66 to pace the Hawkeyes.

A TEAM WITH DEPTH
This fall, four Hawkeyes combined for five top-10 individual finishes. Junior Carson Schaake leads the team with two after tying for seventh at the GolfWeek Conference Challenge (Sept. 14-16) and finishing fourth at the David Toms Intercollegiate (Oct. 10-11). Senior Nate Yankovich, junior Raymond Knoll — the GolfWeek Conference Challenge co-medalist — and sophomore Sam Meuret each notched one top-10 finish in the fall.

FALL RECAP
The Hawkeyes ended the fall season only competing in four events after the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate was canceled due to unplayable course conditions and potential flooding resulting from effects of Hurricane Patricia. The highlight of the fall came at Iowa’s own GolfWeek Conference Challenge, in which the Hawkeyes claimed the team title and junior Raymond Knoll earned co-medalist honors. As a team, the Hawkeyes averaged 75.25 strokes per round in the fall and tallied 15 rounds of at or below par golf. Junior Carson Schaake led the team with five, including a fourth place finish at the David Toms Intercollegiate.

A HISTORIC WEEKEND
The Hawkeyes claimed the team title at the 2015 GolfWeek Conference Challenge (Sept. 25-27), carding a 54-hole total of 842 (-22) — the fifth-best 54-hole score in program history. The title was the first for Iowa under the guidance of second-year head coach Tyler Stith, and first since winning the Hawkeye- GRE Invitational on April 13, 2014.

Junior Raymond Knoll claimed co-medalist honors with a 54-hole total of 205 (-11; 66, 67, 72) — the lowest three-round total in program history. The title was the first of Knoll’s collegiate career. Knoll’s performance at the GolfWeek Conference Challenge earned him Big Ten Co-Golfer of the Week honors on Sept. 30.

Senior Nate Yankovich and junior Carson Schaake each fi nished within the top 10. Yankovich tied for fifth place with a three-round 209 (-7; 73, 66, 70). His second-round 66 was the best 18-hole performance of his career. Schaake tied for seventh, finishing the weekend with a three-round 210 (-6; 73, 66, 71).

7 STRAIGHT NCAA APPEARANCES
Iowa has advanced to NCAA competition in each of the last seven seasons, joining Illinois as the only Big Ten teams selected to NCAA Regional competition in each of the last seven seasons. Iowa has advanced to the NCAA Championship finals three times in the last seven years (2009, 2011, 2012).

A PROGRAM ON THE RISE
Iowa has won 12 tournaments since 2008 and has had 15 individual medalists since 2009, including Carson Schaake, who was crowned individual co-champion at last year’s Big Ten Championships and Raymond Knoll who won this year’s GolfWeek Conference Challenge. The Hawkeyes have also had three All-Americans since 2008. Nineteen Iowa players have been named to the all-region team since 2009. Last season, Brian Bullington, Knoll, and Schaake each earned Division I PING All-Midwest Regional honors.

LOOKING AHEAD
Following the Southwestern Jones Invitational, the Hawkeyes take two weeks off before heading to Statesboro, Georgia, for the annual Schenkel Invitational. The three-day tournament begins on March 18.