IOWA CITY, Iowa – Eight current and former University of Iowa golfers are set to compete at US Open final qualifying events Monday. Nine 36-hole tournaments tee off on Monday, June 6, to establish the field for the 122nd U.S. Open later this month at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Current Hawkeyes Mac McClear and Garrett Tighe earned bids to the final qualifying events with top-three finishes at the Blue Top Ridge Golf Course local qualifier in Riverside, Iowa. McClear was the Co-Medalist at the event, tying Missouri’s Jack Lundin at three-under par (69). Tighe earned the final qualifying spot with a two-under par round of 70.
McClear, who was the 2021 Big Ten champion, earned PING All-Midwest honors this season for the second consecutive year. McClear was also named second team All-Big Ten in 2022 after leading the Hawkeyes with a 72.2 stroke average and four top ten finishes.
Last time out, McClear placed 14th at NCAA Regionals, where he qualified to compete individually. He is set to compete at Springfield Country Club in Springfield, Ohio, where he will tee off at 8:05 a.m. (CT) from hole No. 10.
Tighe competed in six tournaments for Iowa this season, most notably posting a career-best 18-hole round of 65 at the Hawkeye Invitational where he finished runner-up with a 54-hole score of 209 (-7).
Tighe will compete in Jupiter, Florida, at The Club at Admiral’s Cove. He will be joined there by Iowa alumnus Gene Elliot, who won the 2021 US Senior Open Amateur to earn an exemption into Final Qualifying.
Other former Hawkeyes competing at final qualifiers include brothers Carson and Alex Schaake, as well as 2021 graduates Benton Weinberg and Charles Jahn.
Carson Schaake is competing at Springfield Country Club where is paired alongside PGA TOUR professionals Daniel Hudson and Ryan Brehm. That trio is set for a 7:45 a.m. (CT) start from hole No. 10.
Alex Schaake, who is the only Hawkeye golfer to be voted Big Ten Player of the Year on two occasions (2019, 2021), will play at Kinsale Golf and Fitness Club in Columbus, Ohio. He is paired with Spanish professional golfer Rafa Cabrera-Bello, as well as Ricky Castillo of the University of Florida. They will tee off at 7:30 a.m. (CT).
Weinberg is set to compete at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Maryland, where he will tee off at 7:15 a.m. (CT) from hole No. 1 alongside professionals Benjamin Griffin and Michael Salazar. Jahn also tees off in Rockville on Monday morning.
Fresh off an appearance at the PGA Championship, 1995 graduate Sean McCarty will compete in Columbus, Ohio, to qualify for his fourth career Major championship. 