Iowa to Host Hawkeye Invitational

THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa men’s golf team hosts the 28th annual Hawkeye Invitational, April 16-17, at Finkbine Golf Course in Iowa City, Iowa.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Rounds one and two tee off with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. (CT) on Saturday. The 54-hole event closes out on Sunday with another 8:30 a.m. shotgun start with the awards presentation to follow.

FOLLOW THE ACTION
You can follow this week’s action by visiting golfstat.com for live scoring. Links can be found on the men’s golf schedule page on hawkeyesports.com.

THE LINEUP
The Hawkeye lineup will feature junior Mac McClear, sophomore Callum Macfie, senior Gonzalo Leal Montero, junior Garrett Tighe, and junior Ronan Kleu.

THE FIELD
Iowa hosts a field of 14 of the Midwest’s top programs, including No. 28 Kansas, Cincinnati, Creighton, Drake, Illinois State, Iowa State, James Madison, Kansas State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northern Illinois, South Dakota State, and UMKC.

THE COURSE
Named after W.O. Finkbine, who donated the 200 acres of rolling terrain to the University of Iowa, Finkbine Golf Course was opened in 1955 and is the home of Hawkeye golf. Spanning 7,002 yards, the par 72 course consistently ranks among the top golf courses in the state of Iowa.

ON THE LINKS

• Last time out, the Hawkeyes hosted the Calusa Cup, welcoming seven of the nation’s top 25 teams to prestigious Calusa Pines Golf Club.
• Iowa tied for eighth, as McClear and Leal Montero posted top 20 finishes on the stacked leaderboard. McClear tied Oklahoma’s fourth-ranked Chris Gotterup for 16th at 220 (+4) on the week. Leal Montero tied for 19th with a 222 (+6) score after 54 holes.

28TH ANNUAL HAWKEYE INVITATIONAL
2022 marks the 28th year of the Hawkeye Invitational, as the Hawkeyes look for their 17th championship in the tournament’s history. Iowa won its second consecutive team title and individual medalist honors in 2021 (event was canceled in 2020).

Iowa has won 16 Hawkeye Invitational titles and has crowned 15 individual champions in the tournament’s history, including the 2019 season when Matthew Walker and Alex Schaake claimed co-medalist honors. The duo each posted a program record, tournament record, and career-best 54-hole score of 199 (-14), topping the previous school mark by four strokes. Schaake defended his individual crown in 2021, finishing two strokes ahead of teammate Mac McClear, who was runner-up.

The tournament has hosted a number of different teams and has been played in a number of different formats, but two things have remained the same: Finkbine Golf Course has always been home to the invite and many of the Midwest’s best teams have been showcased.

HEAR FROM HEAD COACH TYLER STITH
“We’ve been on the road a lot this spring. I think being able to sleep in your own bed and be able to go through your normal daily routine is a big advantage. Finkbine is somewhat unique. It’s one of those places that, the first couple times you see it, it seems hard. The more you play it, the more you know where you can miss off the tee, you know how to play certain hole locations, and it becomes a lot easier and friendlier to the home team.

We’ve been out here playing a lot the last few weeks and we know what we have to do to be successful. Scoring conditions will be a real challenge this week. It is going to be fairly cold and windy, and potentially wet, so I think all of the grinding that we’ve done on here the last couple weeks will pay off.”

HEAR FROM CALLUM MACFIE
“Playing at Finkbine does have an advantage. This golf course can be quite tricky. Conditions as of late have been quite difficult, so we’ve almost become weathered coming into this event. I feel like a win this weekend would certainly be absolutely possible, especially with how as a team we have been trending. Obviously, the goal is to win.”

LOOKING AHEAD
The Big Ten Championships are scheduled for April 29-May 1 at the Pete Dye Course in French Lick, Indiana.