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THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa men’s golf team resumes play at the Trinity Forest Invitational in Dallas, Texas. The inaugural event will be held at the Trinity Forest Golf Club and is the first tournament hosted by SMU since March 2014.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Sunday — 18 holes, tee times starting at 8:20 a.m. (CT) off holes 1 and 10
Monday — 18 holes, tee times starting at 8:20 a.m. (CT) off holes 1 and 10
Tuesday — 18 holes, tee times starting at 8:20 a.m. (CT) off holes 1 and 10
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Fans can follow this weekend’s action by visiting golfstat.com for live scoring. Links can be found on the men’s golf schedule page on hawkeyesports.com.
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
Iowa is joined by an elite 13-team field including eight ranked teams. Texas is the highest ranked team at six, followed by USC (8), Oregon (9), Florida (10), Auburn (13), Clemson (17), Texas Tech (22), and Pepperdine (T23). The remaining four teams are Ball State, Kansas State, North Texas, and host SMU.
THE COURSE
The par-71 Trinity Forest Golf Club, designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, stretches 7,302 yards with dramatic bunkering and green complexes. The links style course resembling the great old courses of the Northeast and Great Britain is SMU’s home course and will call home to the PGA Tour’s AT&T Byron Nelson Championship in the coming years.
QUOTING COACH TYLER STITH
“The team has been excited about this tournament for quite some time. Trinity Forest is an awesome new Core/Crenshaw design that will host the PGA Tour AT&T Byron Nelson. The field is among the best in college golf and we are looking forward to the challenge. We need another team performance with all five players in each round.”
THE LINEUP
Iowa’s lineup consists of the same five that competed in this week’s Golfweek Conference Challenge: Alex Schaake, Ryoto Furuya, Matthew Walker, Sam Meuret, and Benton Weinberg.
LAST TIME OUT
Iowa finished second at the Golfweek Challenge in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Hosted by the Hawkeyes, Alex Schaake placed a personal-best second place with a career-low 54-hole score of eight-under-par (208). Four other Hawkeyes finished in the top-30. Ryoto Furuya shot a two-under-par (214) to tie for 12th, a career best. Sam Meuret used a three-under-par 69 to tie for 16th. Matthew Walker carded an even-par 216 to tie for 19th. Benton Weinberg had the third most pars (41) in the field to tie for 30th.
CLIMBING THE LEADERBOARD
Ryoto Furuya leads the team with four rounds at or below par. Matthew Walker and Alex Schaake each have three rounds at or below par.
With an eight-under-par at the Golfweek Challenge, Schaake is the lone top-10 finisher and leads the team with 71.5 strokes-per-round. Furuya, Meuret, and Walker each have top-20 finishes under their belts.
LOW SCORES AT GOLFWEEK CHALLENGE
In last week’s tournament at the Cedar Rapid Country Club, the Hawkeyes never counted a score over-par as the team registered 12 of 15 total rounds at or below par. Schaake and Furuya shot at or below par in every round.
WALKER, SCHAAKE, SIMPSON ON B1G PLAYERS TO WATCH LIST
• Walker competed in every event for the second consecutive year, averaging 72.73 strokes per round as a sophomore. Last fall he led the Hawkeyes with four top-10 finishes and 16 rounds at or below par. Walker tied for 19th at the 2017 Big Ten Championships and tied for 46th place at the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional.
• Schaake played in seven tournaments last year and posted a 75.1 stroke average per 18-holes. At the 2017 Big Ten Championships, Schaake placed 29th after shooting a career-best 66 (-4).
• Simpson competed in six events, averaging 77.43 strokes-per-round with three rounds at or below par and two top-20 finishes. Simpson shined at the 2017 Big Ten Championships placing a team-best 16th place.
HAWKEYE NEWCOMERS
Iowa added two freshmen to its 2017-18 roster. Jaewook Lee (Langley, British Columbia) and Jake Rowe (Portadown, Northern Ireland).
WALKER IS A WORK HORSE
Junior Matthew Walker was the first true freshman to compete in every fall tournament for the Hawkeyes since Cole Peevler in 2015. Walker followed up his freshman season by competing in every event as a sophomore.
9 STRAIGHT NCAA APPEARANCES
Iowa has advanced to NCAA competition in each of the last nine seasons, joining Illinois as the only Big Ten teams selected to NCAA Regional competition in each of the last nine seasons. Iowa has advanced to the NCAA Championship finals three times in the last eight years (2009, 2011, 2012).
A PROGRAM ON THE RISE
Iowa has won 12 tournaments since 2008 and has had 15 individual medalists since 2009.The Hawkeyes have also had three All-Americans since 2008.
2016-17 RECAP
• The Hawkeyes ended the spring season at the NCAA Regionals in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the program’s ninth straight NCAA Regional appearance. The spring season was highlighted by a fourth place finish at the Big Ten Championships, in Baltimore, Maryland, which is the fourth straight year that Iowa placed fourth or better at the event.
• The highlight of the fall came at Iowa’s annual Hawkeye Invitational, where the Hawkeyes finished second in a 14-team field and had four individuals place 15th or better. Two of the four top-finishers, Matthew Walker and Jack Simpson, shot a 54-hole score of 217 (+1), and return to the 2017 squad.
• As a team the Hawkeyes had a stroke average of 74.93 with 55 rounds at or below par. Alex Schaake and Matthew Walker both shot a team low of 66.
LOOKING AHEAD
After the Trinity Forest Invitational, the Hawkeyes head to Chicago on Oct. 8-9, to compete in the Windon Memorial, hosted by Northwestern.
