CLE ELUM, WA. — The University of Iowa men’s golf team finished in 11th place at Tumble Creek Golf and Country Club to close out the NCAA Regionals.
Sophomore Mac McClear recorded his fourth top-20 finish of the season to lead the Hawkeyes at three-over par after 54-holes (216). McClear shot a 68 on Wednesday, marking a three-under par round at the par-71 course, a team-best on the week and well below the course’s 73.81 stroke average on the final day of competition.
Fifth-year senior Alex Schaake also shot below par in the third round, draining six birdies for a score of 69 on the day. Five of the Hawkeye veteran’s nine birdies on the week came during his back nine in the final round. The duo’s scores marked Iowa’s only rounds below par at the challenging course.
Junior Gonzalo Leal-Montero and fifth-year senior Charles Jahn tied for 47th at Regionals with scores of 222 (+9). Senior Jake Rowe also subbed in on Wednesday and shot a 77 (+6).
The 11th place showing marks the end of the season for the Hawkeyes. Teams were required to finish in the top-five to advance to the NCAA Championships, and no Iowa golfer qualified individually by posting the highest score from a non-qualifying team. East Tennessee State, San Francisco, Wake Forrest, Pepperdine, and Florida were the top finishers at the event; the Hawkeyes were seeded sixth heading into the week.
Iowa’s spring season marked the program’s first return to competition since the coronavirus pandemic shutdown play midseason in March of 2020. It was a successful outing, as the Hawkeyes brought home team championships at the Spartan Collegiate at Sea Island and the Hawkeye Invitational, marking Iowa’s first season with multiple team titles since 2014.
McClear and Schaake also combined for three individual medalist honors, with Schaake defending his victory at the Hawkeye Invitational and the sophomore winning the Spartan Collegiate as well as Iowa’s first individual Big Ten Championship since 2015.
Iowa solidified itself as a Big Ten heavyweight, finishing second at Big Ten Match Play to open the season and eventually coming within one stroke of a conference title in their runner-up team finish at the Big Ten Championships. Schaake was honored as Co-Big Ten Golfer of the Year for the 2021 season, while McClear was the conference’s only unanimous first-team All-Big Ten selection this season. Head Coach Tyler Stith was named conference Coach of the Year.
IOWA SCORECARD
| 11 | Iowa | 289 | 303 | 285 | +25 | 877 |
| T-19 | Mac McClear | 73 | 75 | 68 | +3 | 216 |
| T-33 | Alex Schaake | 72 | 78 | 69 | +6 | 219 |
| T-47 | Gonzalo Leal-Montero | 73 | 75 | 74 | +9 | 222 |
| T-47 | Charles Jahn | 71 | 77 | 74 | +9 | 222 |
| N/A | Garrett Tighe | 78 | 76 | — | +12 | 154 |
| N/A | Jake Rowe | — | — | 77 | +6 | 77 |
HAWKEYE NOTEABLES
- Iowa’s one-over par final round tied for the third best team score on the day.
- The Hawkeyes shot 19 birdies on Wednesday, including 14 on the back nine. Iowa sank 40 birdies total at the NCAA Regionals; McClear posted 11, followed by Schaake with nine and Jahn with seven.
- Schaake’s par-three stroke average tied for seventh in the field (3.13) while Leal-Montero’s 34 pars tie him for tenth in the statistic.
- Iowa made its 11th NCAA Regionals appearance since 2009. The Hawkeyes placed seventh at the 2019 Austin Regional. There was no 2020 postseason due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Hawkeyes last qualified for the NCAA Championships in 2012.