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THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa men’s golf team returns to action at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate in Dallas, Texas on Monday. Seventh-ranked Baylor is hosting the tournament at Royal Oaks Country Club.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
First and second round: Monday, Oct. 23 — 36 holes, 8:30 a.m. (CT) shotgun start
Third round: Tuesday, Oct. 24 — 18 holes, 8:15 a.m. (CT) tee times off holes 1 and 10
TOURNAMENT FORMAT
The tournament will be played in “The Maxwell” format, which means all five golfers from each team will play together on the same hole.
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 at 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 12 teams from around the country. Host Baylor (7), Kent State (13), and Arkansas (16) are the ranked opponents. While Charlotte, Houston, Liberty, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Pepperdine, SMU, and UTSA round out the field.
THE COURSE
The par-71 Royal Oaks Country Club stretches 7,068 yards and was built in 1969. Dean Larsson is the Head Golf Professional, and is assisted by Randy Smith, the Golf Professional Emeritus. Royal Oaks CC is home to PGA Professional Ryan Palmer who has three all-time wins on the PGA Tour.
QUOTING COACH TYLER STITH
“Heading into the offseason there is always a sense of urgency to play well. We want to finish the season with our best performance of the fall. It’s a good field with a number of postseason caliber teams. We can’t worry about the other teams. We have to manage ourselves and the golf course. We are returning four guys from a year ago. Experience at a golf course is valuable, but we still have to execute shots.”
LAST TIME OUT
The Hawkeyes finished seventh at the Windon Memorial at the Evanston Golf Club in Skokie, Illinois on Oct. 8-9. Iowa’s top finisher Alex Schaake tied for fifth place with a career-tying 54-hole score of 208 (-2; 68, 70, 70). Matthew Walker (T-20) and Alex Moorman (T-29) both finished in the top 30. Moorman recorded the low 18-hole Hawkeye score with a 67 in the first round. Competing as an individual, freshman Jake Rowe lowered his season 18-hole best to 71.
HAWKS AT ROYAL OAKS
The Hawkeyes finished fifth out of 11 teams in last year’s Royal Oaks Intercollegiate. Matthew Walker tied for a team-best ninth place, Sam Meuret tied for 36th, and Schaake and Furuya tied for 43rd. In 2010, Iowa won the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate with a 17-under-par behind Vince India’s medalist 10-under-par performance.
THE LINEUP
Alex Schaake, Matthew Walker, Benton Weinberg, Ryoto Furuya, and Sam Meuret are the five Hawkeye golfers competing in the last fall tournament of the season.
SCHAAKE’S SECOND TOP-10 FINISH
Schaake posted three consecutive rounds at or below par in the Windon Memorial at the par-70 Evanston Golf Club to tie for fifth place, which marks his second top-five finish of the year. His first top-five finish came in a runner-up performance at the Golfweek Conference Challenge at the Cedar Rapids Country Club. Schaake used career-best 54-hole scores of 208 in his top-five finishes.
CLIMBING THE LEADERBOARD
- Alex Schaake leads the team with six rounds at or below par. Walker and Ryoto Furuya have five rounds at or below par.
- Schaake leads the team with an 18-hol average of 71.25. Walker averages 72.25 strokes-per-round and Benton Weinberg averages 72.44 strokes-per-round.
- Schaake leads the team with two top-10 finishes. Walker has two top-20 finishes, followed by Furuya and Meuret who each have one top-20 finish.
- Alex Moorman now holds Iowa’s low 18-hole score of 67 (-3) after his first round performance in the Windon Memorial Classic.
3 HAWKEYES 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). The freshmen competed in their first collegiate tournaments as individuals in the Zach Johnson Invitational, Oct. 2-3.
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).
LOOKING AHEAD
Iowa opens its spring schedule Feb. 9-10 at the Big Ten Match Play Championship in Palm Coast, Florida.
