Hawkeye Fan Shop — A Black & Gold Store | 24 Hawkeyes to Watch 2017-18 | Hawk Talk Monthly – March 2018 | Duck Invitational Notes (PDF)
THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa men’s golf team travels to the Pacific Northwest to play at the Duck Invitational in Eugene, Oregon on Monday and Tuesday. This will be Iowa’s first appearance in the event. Host Oregon won the tournament last year.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Round 1: Monday, March 26 — 10:30 a.m. (CT) shotgun start
Round 2: Monday, March 26 — approx. 2:30 p.m. (CT)
Round 3: Tuesday, March 27 — 10:30 a.m. (CT) shotgun start
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.
THE FIELD
Iowa is joined by 15 teams mostly from the west coast: Oregon, Arizona, Boise State, Colorado State, Denver, Fresno State, Liberty, Loyola Marymount, Oregon State, Pacific, Saint Mary’s San Jose State, Santa Clara, Seattle, and UAB.
THE COURSE
Eugene Country Club, the second oldest country club in Oregon and one of the finest golf courses on the Pacific Coast, will host the 54-hole tournament. The par-71 stretches 7,020 yards with large spacious greens and sparkling white bunkers. The country club was organized in 1923 and remodeled in 1990.
THE LINEUP
Iowa rolls out Alex Schaake in the one spot, followed by Matthew Walker, Alex Moorman, Benton Weinberg, and freshman Jake Rowe. Rowe will be competing in the Hawkeye lineup for the first time in his career.
QUOTING COACH TYLER STITH
“We are eager for the opportunity waiting in Oregon. Eugene Country Club is a great course and hosted the 2016 NCAA Championship. We are facing many of the teams in the field for the first time this season. The Duck is a strong tournament and the Eugene CC will provide a championship caliber test for our team. We need to be ready Monday to meet the challenge.We have four tournaments remaining and each one is very important.”
LAST TIME OUT
Lead by Alex Schaake’s T-12 finish, Iowa placed 10th in the Schenkel Invitational with a 54-hole total of 866 (+2; 294, 279, 293). Schaake (67) and Matthew Walker (69) shot sub-70s in the second round to help card Iowa’s second-lowest 18-hole team score of 279 in the second round. Schaake finished three-under-par, while Walker finished one-under-par.
LEADER IN THE CLUBHOUSE
Sophomore Alex Schaake has been Iowa’s top finisher in four of eight stroke-play events, including three top-five finishes and one top-20 finish. The Omaha native’s best finish came in the fall at the Golfweek Conference Challenege, where he finished second, just two strokes behind a medalist finish.
WALKER THRIVES IN MATCH PLAY
In this year’s Big Ten Match Play Championships, junior Matthew Walker won three out of four individual matches to improve his career match play record to 10-2. He went 4-0 as a freshman, making him one of only six golfers to do so for the tournament. In back-to-back years, Walker finished 3-1 to have only two career losses on his career resume.
SCHAAKE’S THREE TOP-FIVE FINISHES
Adding to his two top-five finishes in the fall, Alex Schaake finished third in the Southern Intercollegiate. The sophomore fired back-to-back even par or better rounds to finish the tournament two-under-par and one stroke off the lead. His first top-five finish of the season came in a runner-up performance at the Golfweek Conference Challenge at the Cedar Rapids Country Club. Next, at the Windon Memorial Classic, he posted three consecutive rounds at or below par at the Evanston Golf Club to tie for fifth place.
FALL RECAP
The Hawkeyes competed in five fall tournaments, averaging 73.63 strokes per round. Iowa’s best finish came at the Golfweek Conference Challenge in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where it finished second out of 15 teams with four Hawkeye golfers finishing in the top 20. Sophomore Alex Schaake, who finished second in the Golfweek Conference Challenge, had the lowest Hawkeye scoring average of 71.47. For the fall, seven Hawkeyes had top-20 finishes, while the team recorded 27 rounds at or below par.
CLIMBING THE LEADERBOARD
- Six Hawkeyes — Ryoto Furuya, Sam Meuret, Alex Moorman, Alex Schaake, Matthew Walker, and Benton Weinberg — have competed in at least 12 rounds.
- Schaake now has nine rounds at or below par, followed by Walker’s eight rounds at or below. As a team, the Hawkeyes have carded 38 rounds at or below par.
- Schaake lowered his 18-hole average to 71.41 after shooting a second-round 67 in the Schenkel Invitational. Walker is second on the team averaging 72.3 strokes-per-round, followed by Weinberg’s 18-hole average of 73.17. Iowa’s team average sits at 73.81.
- Schaake, Weinberg, and Moorman have carded 67s for Iowa’s low 18-hole score of the season.
- Five Hawkeyes have at least one top-20 finish, while Schaake alone has three top-five finishes.
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. In two and a half years as a Hawkeye, Walker has competed in every event dating back to his freshman year.
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.
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 will take two weeks off before returning home and hosting its own event, the Hawkeye Invitational, April 14-15. This year will mark the 25th year of the tournament, which dates back to 1970. The Hawkeyes finished second in last year’s 14-team event.
