Hawkeyes Set for Big Ten Championships

 THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa men’s golf team competes for the Big Ten championship at the Pete Dye Course in French Lick, Indiana.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
One round will take place each day Friday through Sunday.  The first two days of competition will tee off at 8 a.m. (CT), with the final round teeing off at 7 a.m. (CT) on Sunday.

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
Junior Mac McClear leads off the Iowa lineup, followed by junior Ronan Kleu, sophomore Callum Macfie, senior Gonzalo Leal Montero, and junior Garrett Tighe.

THE FIELD
All 14 Big Ten programs will battle it out for the conference crown. No. 20 Illinois, No. 29 Purdue, No. 35 Ohio State, No. 37 Michigan State, and No. 47 Northwestern are GolfStat top-50 ranked teams in a field that also includes Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Penn State, Rutgers, and Wisconsin.

THE COURSE
Opened in 2009, the Pete Dye Course is named for its legendary architect who carved the course into the rugged slopes of Mount Airie on the grounds of French Lick Resort. Dye is said to have originally sketched the 8,102-yard behemoth on a napkin. The par 72 course is located at the second highest elevation in Indiana.

ON THE LINKS
Iowa placed second at the Hawkeye Invitational last time out, finishing two strokes behind twenty-eighth ranked Kansas with an 854 (-10) team score. Junior Garrett Tighe placed second at the event, finishing one stroke back from the medalist.

• Tighe shot a career best 209 (-7), propelled by a career best second round score of 65 (-7), matching the fourth lowest score in program history.
• Three Hawkeyes finished in the top six at the Hawkeye Invitational, with junior Mac McClear finishing fifth (213) and senior Gonzalo Leal Montero tying for sixth (214).

IOWA AT THE BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Hawkeyes won the 1992 Big Ten Championship and have produced four individual Big Ten Championship medalists in program history. McClear is the reigning conference champion, finishing one-under par (215) through 54 holes at Crooked Stick Golf Club.

McClear was the only competitor to finish below par at the 2021 event, as the Hawkeyes finished just one stroke behind 11th-ranked Illinois. Alex Schaake ’21 tied for second with a 224 (+2) 54-hole score, while Tighe tied for 10th at 224 (+8) and Leal Montero tied for 26th at 228 (+12).

Iowa also earned third and fourth places finishes at the 2018 and 2017 Big Ten Championships, respectively. Carson Schaake ’17 became the first Hawkeye to claim Big Ten Championship medalist honors since Brad Klapprott in 1992.

HEAR FROM HEAD COACH TYLER STITH
“The Dye Course is a great championship venue.  The players will be tested for 54 holes.  We will see on Thursday how the course is setup. In years past, it has been an second shot golf course.  It all depends on the thickness of the rough. We are a good iron team and the course should suit us.  The conference is stacked this year but we are capable of putting ourselves in contention Sunday.”

HEAR FROM HAWKEYE MAC MCCLEAR
“Our goal as a team is to win. We need to win to get into regionals, and after coming so close last year we’re really hungry to win it this time around. Our team has the potential, we just have to have everyone firing at the same time. With the talent on this team, I know we can do it.”