Hawkeyes Tee Off Spring at Puerto Rico Classic

THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa men’s golf team heads to Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, on Feb. 12-14 for the Puerto Rico Classic at Grand Reserve Golf Club.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
The 54-hole tournament takes place Feb. 12-14, with 18 holes to be played each day. The first round tees off at 7:30 a.m. (CT).

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 at hawkeyesports.com.

THE LINEUP
Seniors Mac McClear and Ronan Kleu, sophomore Ian Meyer, freshman Hogan Hansen and junior Callum Macfie will compete for Iowa at the Puerto Rico Classic.

THE FIELD
The field of 13 programs includes eight Golfstat top-50 ranked teams in No. 9 Tennessee, No. 16 Oklahoma, No. 24 Ohio State, No. 28 Purdue, No. 31 Georgia, No. 42 East Tennessee State, No. 44 Ole Miss, No. 45 Marquette. Iowa, College of Charleston, Maryland, South Carolina and Wisconsin round out the group.

Charleston’s Kieron van Wyk is the highest-ranked individual in the field at No. 11 in the nation.

THE EVENT
The Puerto Rico Classic is hosted annually by Purdue University; 2023 marks the 30th edition of the event and its second year at Grand Reserve Golf Club. The individual medalist at the Puerto Rico Classic will receive an invitation to the PGA Tour’s Puerto Rico Open on March 2-5.

THE COURSE
Grand Reserve Golf Course plays host to the Puerto Rico Open, the only PGA Tour event played in Puerto Rico. Hundreds of current professionals have played the course, including big names such as Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, Tony Finau, Bryson DeChambeau and Chesson Hadley.

IOWA AT THE PUERTO RICO CLASSIC
The Hawkeyes have competed at the Puerto Rico Classic on three occasions, with their highest finish coming in 2019 at seventh place in a field 14 teams. Last year, McClear ­­tied for ninth with a third-round 64 (-8), which tied for the fourth-best 18-hole score in tournament history.

ON THE LINKS
The highlight of Iowa’s fall season was a team championship on Oct. 17 at the Iowa Fall Classic. McClear was the individual medalist at Blue Top Ridge Golf Course as the Hawkeyes bested a field of nine teams from around the Midwest. This winter, Iowa golfers hit the road to compete individually.

• McClear posted a six-under par finish at the South Beach International on Dec. 22, 2022. A first-round score of 66 (-5) helped propel the Hawkeye veteran to 26th place at the fifth-ranked amateur event in the world.
• Junior Garrett Tighe tied for 11th on Jan. 4 at the Sonoran Amateur at Longbow Golf Club in Mesa, Arizona. Tighe shot 68 (-3) in the final round to shoot up the leaderboard.

NATIONAL SIGNING DAY ROUND-UP
Iowa signed Noah Kent and Maxwell Tjoa to the class of 2023 on Nov. 10, 2022. Kent joins the Hawkeyes from Gulf Coast High School in Naples, Florida, where he finished runner-up in the state tournament as a junior and was named Southwest Florida Player of the Year.

Tjoa is a homegrown Hawkeye, hailing from Cedar Falls, Iowa, where he established himself as the top junior player in the state. Tjoa was the 2022 Iowa Golf Association Boys Player of the Year.  Read more about Iowa’s newcomers at hawkeyesports.com.

HEAR FROM HEAD COACH TYLER STITH
“It’s always good when you don’t have to re-learn a golf course. Lines off tees, things like that which you typically try to get done in the practice round. As a player, it gives you confidence when you already know where you need to hit it. It eliminates a little bit of uncertainty, so I think having a handful of guys who played down there last year definitely helps.”

LOOKING AHEAD
The Hawkeyes head to Pinehurst, North Carolina, for the Wake Forest Invitational from March 6-7 at Pinehurst No. 2.