Hawkeye Fan Shop — A Black & Gold Store | Hawk Talk Monthly — April 2018 | Round 1 Results (PDF)
BALTIMORE — The University of Iowa men’s golf team is tied with Wisconsin for sixth after the first round of the Big Ten Championships at Baltimore Country Club’s par-70 East Course. Friday’s round from the Hawkeyes featured four solid rounds from individuals to finish with at eight-over-par (288) after 18 holes.
Ohio State (-1) is leading after day one, followed by No. 12 Illinois (+1), and No. 43 Penn State (+4). The Buckeyes are the only team to shoot under par for the round.
Paired with Minnesota, no Hawkeye managed to shoot under par, but three players — Matthew Walker, Alex Moorman, and Benton Weinberg — are inside the top 20 after day one. The balanced attack has Iowa chasing five teams, three of which are ranked inside the top 43 of Golfstat’s national rankings.
Walker, who is tied for 15th, led the Hawkeyes at one-over-par (71) due to two birdies on his last six holes to finish strong. The Ottumwa, Iowa, native is coming off his best finish at the Robert Kepler Invitational where he tied for sixth place.
Following Walker is Moorman and Weinberg who are tied for 19th at two-over-par (72). Moorman started the day two-over-par on the back nine, and then was four-over-par at one point, but salvaged his round with seven straight holes at par or better. Weinberg, on the other hand, got off to a hot start with birdies on two of the first three holes.
Sam Meuret carded a three-over-par 73 to tie for 29th, while Alex Schaake shot a four-over-par 74 to be in a tie for 35th. Today is the first time this season that Schaake’s score has not counted towards Iowa’s team score.
IOWA SCORECARD
| T-6 | Iowa | 288 | +8 |
| T-15 | Matthew Walker | 71 | +1 |
| T-19 | Alex Moorman | 72 | +2 |
| T-19 | Benton Weinberg | 72 | +2 |
| T-29 | Sam Meuret | 73 | +3 |
| T-35 | Alex Schaake | 74 | +4 |
HAWKEYE NOTABLES
- Iowa has only one player inside the top 15, but the team is still only four strokes away from moving up three spots into third place.
- Walker tied for 19th at five-over-par in last year’s Big Ten Championship, while Schaake tied for 29th at eight-over-par.
COACH STITH’S COMMENTS
“We had four decent scores, but nobody got hot and was under par. We need at least one round in the red tomorrow. We’re in a decent position and there’s a lot of golf left to play. Everyone feels like they can improve on today’s performance.”
SATURDAY’S PAIRINGS
The second round starts tomorrow at 8 a.m. (CT). Iowa will tee off from hole No. 1 and be paired with Maryland and No. 35 Northwestern.
