IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa men’s golf team has been selected to compete in the NCAA Regional in Austin, Texas. The announcement was made Wednesday evening on Golf Channel. This marks Iowa’s 10th NCAA appearance in the past 11 seasons and 21st in program history. The Austin Regional, hosted by Texas, will be held at University of Texas Golf Club on May 13-15.
“I am happy for the guys, really proud,” said Iowa head coach Tyler Stith. “It takes a season’s worth of good play to get to this point. We have been eagerly sitting and waiting to try to figure out where we are going to go, now we know we are going to Texas. It is a great golf course. We are going to learn more about it here in the next few days.”
Teams were selected to one of six regional sites. The 38th-ranked Hawkeyes are a No. 7 seed in the 14-team Austin region.
“It means a lot to make Regionals,” said senior Matthew Walker. “We talked about it earlier in the year that this is our goal. This is a huge stepping stone for the team.”
“We are all excited to go to Regionals. We have been working hard this year and have a lot to prove,” said junior Benton Weinberg.
Iowa will be seeking its fourth NCAA Championship Finals berth in the past 11 years and its 16th appearance in program history.
“We have put in so much hard work this year,” said Big Ten Golfer of the Year Alex Schaake. “We need to put work hard the next couple weeks and I think we will make a good run at Nationals.”
Iowa last qualified for the NCAA Finals in 2012, after placing fifth in the Athens Regional. The Hawkeyes went on to place 22nd in the NCAA Championships.
In order of respective seeding, the Austin Regional includes host Texas, USC, Pepperdine, Clemson, TCU, Arkansas, Iowa, Marquette, San Jose State, Saint Mary’s, Sam Houston State, UMKC, Prairie View A&M, and Army West Point.
Iowa is one of six Big Ten teams to advance to regional competition, joining Illinois, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, and Purdue.
The Hawkeyes will tee off in Austin on May 13. The top five finishing teams will advance to the NCAA Tournament hosted by Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The tournament will be played at Blessings Golf Club, May 24-29.
