THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa women’s golf team heads to New Orleans for the Tulane Classic presented by Chad Brownstein from Feb. 13-15. The 54-hole event will be held at the English Turn Golf and Country Club (par 72, 6,484 yards) with 18 holes being contested on Sunday-Tuesday.
FOLLOW LIVE
Fans can follow the tournament via live scoring at www.Golfstat.com.
LINEUP
The Hawkeyes’ lineup will consist of freshman Paula Miranda, junior Morgan Goldstein, senior Dana Lerner, senior Manuela Lizarazu, junior Lea Zeitler, while freshman Caroline Gray will be competing individually.
THE FIELD
The Tulane Classic event will consist of a 16-team field, including Boston College, Charlotte, Clemson, Memphis, Michigan, Nebraska, North Texas, Rutgers, SMU, Texas State, Tulane, UAB, Southern Miss, UTSA and Wichita State. Two teams — Michigan (No. 10) and Clemson (No. 38) — currently rank in the top 40 nationally.
THE COURSE
This Jack Nicklaus Signature Design, par 72 Championship Golf Course presents a unique challenge to golfers of all skill levels. Every hole has an individual personality, including numerous bunkers, large waste bunkers, plentiful grass depressions and mounds which line the sculpted fairways. The signature course at English Turn was originally designed in 1988 for the New Orleans PGA Tour event, which was held at the facility until 2004 and in 2006 following Hurricane Katrina. The inaugural event was the USF and G Classic in 1989 and the course proved to be a challenge for the PGA Tour with notoriously undulating greens, water in play on 17 of the 18 holes and the signature 15th island green.
OF NOTE
• Sophomore Klara Wildhaber posted her first career match play victory, besting Indiana’s Mary Parsons, 3UP to help lead the Hawkeyes to team win in Big Ten Match Play competition on Feb. 15.
• Freshman Paula Miranda recorded her first career match play victory, downing Rutgers’ Leigha Devine, 4&3.
• Senior Dana Lerner and junior Lea Zeitler eache battled to draws against Nebraska at the Big Ten Match Play, while Zeitler also recorded a win against Indiana’s Maddie Dittoe, 1UP, for the first of her career.
• Iowa’s final round 287 at the Ron Moore Intercollegiate was the eighth-lowest round in school history and the team’s 880 54-hole score is seventh-best in school history.
MIRANDA SHINES IN THE FALL
Freshman Paula Miranda had a strong fall season, posting a team-best 73.67 scoring average over four fall tournaments. The Mexico native posted one top 10 and two top 20 finishes, including a runner-up showing at the Ron Moore Women’s Intercollegiate.
• She posted a score of 212 (-4) at the Ron Moore, finishing at or below par in each of her three rounds. The 212 total ranks second in school history and the final round 68 is sixth-best all-time.
• Miranda fired a season-low round of 67 at the Badger Invitational in the second event of the fall. The score is tied for the second-lowest round in school history.
• Miranda also tied for 12th at the Women’s Amateur Latin America Championships with a 72-hole score of 296.
GRAY’S DEBUT
Freshman Caroline Gray will be playing in her first collegiate event at the Tulane Classic. The Illinois native was a four-time all-conference selection at North Shore Country Day High School. She was the first female golfer to qualify for state and had the lowest scoring average. Gray will be competing as an individual.
EL TIGRE CANCELLED
Iowa’s Hawkeye El Tigre Invitational, which was to be held in Puerta Vallarta, Mexico, on March 19-21 has been cancelled due to on-going precautions with the COVID-19 pandemic. In its place, the Hawkeyes will travel to Tennessee for the Chattanooga Classic on March 27-29.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Hawkeyes will travel to Peoria, Arizona, for the Westbrook Spring Invitational hosted by the University of Wisconsin on Feb. 27-28.