Iowa Returns to Sea Island for Johnnie-O

THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa men’s golf team travels to St. Simons, Georgia, for the Johnnie-O at Sea Island.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
The first two rounds of the 54-hole tournament tee off on Monday, with the final 18 holes to be played on Tuesday.

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
Iowa will announce a lineup on site.

THE FIELD
The Hawkeyes take on six Golfstat top-50 ranked teams in the field of 13 programs hosted by Rutgers at the Seaside Course.

No. 25 Kansas State, No. 30 Cincinnati, No. 37 Ohio State, No. 42 Notre Dame, No. 43 UNCG and No. 50 Michigan State will join Kansas, Memphis, Minnesota, Penn State and Toledo.

Those five Big Ten Conference opponents will be the most Iowa  has faced through three events this spring.

THE COURSE
The Seaside Course at Sea Island routinely ranks inside the Golf Digest top-100 public courses, checking in at a No. 36 ranking in 2022. As the name suggests, the Seaside Course is a links-style course that shimmies up the Atlantic coastline. The site plays host to the PGA TOUR’s RSM Classic, a FedEx cup event.

HAWKEYES AT SEA ISLAND
Iowa won the 2021 Spartan Collegiate at the Plantation Course at Sea Island Resort. The Hawkeyes were led by current-senior Mac McClear, who earned his first collegiate medalist honors finishing 1-2 on the leaderboard with teammate Alex Schaake. The Hawkeyes shot 11-under par in the final round to surge to victory, topping the field by one stroke.

This season, Rutgers hosts the inaugural Johnnie-O Classic at the Seaside Course at Sea Island.

ON THE LINKS
Iowa tied for fourth place last time out at the Wake Forest Invitational. McClear tied for second on the leaderboard, advancing 18 spots in the final round shooting 67 (-3) at Pinehurst No. 2.

  • McClear led the field with 12 birdies and a 3.89 (-4) stroke average on par fours; he finished 210 (E) after 54 holes.
  • Senior Ronan Kleu notched his second top-10 effort of the season, tying for ninth place at 213 (+3). Sophomore Ian Meyer tied for 22nd, four strokes back at 217 (+7).
  • The Hawkeyes tied No. 33 Wake Forest and placed ahead of three other ranked teams; Iowa finished three strokes back from second place.

LOOKING AHEAD
Iowa hosts a loaded field at the Calusa Cup from April 2-4 at Calusa Pines Golf Club in Naples, Florida.