Hawkeyes Head to Arizona for NGI

THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa women’s golf team heads to Maricopa, Arizona, for the inaugural 2023 National Golf Invitational from May 12-14. The 54-hole tournament will be held at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club (par 72, 6,318 yards) with 18 holes being contested each day. Tee times will begin at 9:30 a.m. (CT) each round.

FOLLOW LIVE
Fans can follow the tournament via live scoring at www.Golfstat.com.

THE LINEUP
The Hawkeyes will send five golfers to Maricopa, including freshman Shannyn Vogler, sophomore Paula Miranda, senior Jordan Amelon, freshman Madison Dabagia and freshman Kaitlyn Hanna. The team’s top four scores in each round will count toward Iowa’s team total.

THE FIELD
Iowa will compete against a field of 10 teams that includes: Penn State, Mercer, Western Carolina, Iowa, Texas State, Santa Clara, UC Riverside, Middle Tennessee, Grand Canyon and Seattle.
• Four of the 10 teams rank in the top 100 of the Golfstat rankings, including Penn State (68), Texas State (84), Grand Canyon (95) and Mercer (99).

THE COURSE
Established in 2002, Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club has consistently ranked as a top course in Arizona the past eight years by Golfweek. It was designed by Brian Curley, Fred Couples and Lee Schmidt. Located just south of Phoenix, the par 72 golf course of 6,318 yards has challenging bunkers but a beautiful view of the skyline. The course was renovated in 2014 into a more player-friendly venue and his since been a staple in the Phoenix area for incoming travelers. The feature that stands out on this course is its wide fairways and generous landing areas, but it requires precision from tee to pin.

POSTSEASON HISTORY
The postseason team appearance will be the Hawkeyes’ second in program history. Iowa played in the 1991 NCAA Championships under Diane Thomason.

LAST TIME OUT
The Hawkeyes finished 11th place at the Big Ten Championships with a 54-hole total of 909 strokes. Freshman Shannyn Vogler led the pack, finishing tied for 34th with a 228 (76-73-79).

2022-23 REVIEW
Iowa will be closing out its 12 tournament season with the National Golf Invitational. Iowa’s best finish on the season came at the Tulane Classic where the team placed fifth out of 18 teams with a 919 (315-299-305). Freshman Madison Dabagia tallied the team’s highest individual finish, placing eighth with a 226 (77-74-75) in New Orleans.

UNDERCLASSMEN TAKEOVER
Iowa’s top four scoring averages during the 2022-23 season belong to underclassmen with freshman Riley Lewis leading the way with a 74.87 scoring average over 24 rounds. Lewis has two top 20 finishes.
• Freshman Shannyn Vogler is second on the team with a 74.98 scoring average over 29.5 rounds, sophomore Paula Miranda is third with a 75.49 average over 29.5 rounds and freshman Madison Dabagia is fourth with a 76.30 average over 29.5 rounds. Lewis, Vogler and Dabagia each have two top 20 finishes, while Miranda has one top 20 finish.

LEWIS NAMED BIG TEN GOLFER OF THE WEEK
Riley Lewis earned her first career Big Ten Women’s Golfer of the Week honor, earning the distinction on March 8 after tying for 13th place at the UNF Collegiate with a two-over par 216. The Illinois native fired a second-round 67 — the second lowest round in school history — courtesy of four birdies and two eagles.