THIS WEEK
University of Iowa senior Mac McClear competes individually at NCAA Regionals, May 15-17, at Bear’s Best Las Vegas Golf Course.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
The 54-hole tournament beings at 9:30 a.m. (CT) on Monday and continues with one 18-hole round each day. McClear tees off at 11:53 a.m. (CT) on Monday alongside Yuxuan Song of Lehigh and Joshua Robards of Kansas City.
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.
WIN AND ADVANCE
Six 54-hole regional tournaments will be conducted to determine the 30 qualifying teams and six individuals not on those qualifying teams who will compete at the NCAA Championships.
At the Las Vegas regional, 14 teams will compete for five team bids. Five individual qualifiers will also join the field. The low individual not on a qualifying team earns a bid to the finals.
THE FIELD
McClear enters as the seconded-seeded individual at the Las Vegas regional. The field of teams includes No. 4 Arizona State, No. 8 Stanford, No. 16 UNCG, No. 21 Oklahoma State, No. 28 Northwestern, No. 33 East Tennessee State, No. 40 Cincinnati, No. 45 San Francisco, Davidson, Kansas City, Lehigh, Long Beach State, UNC Greensboro and Oregon State.
THE COURSE
Bear’s Best Last Vegas Golf Course is named for its designer, Jack Nicklaus. The par-72 public course spans 7,217 yards and is located in close proximity to both the Las Vegas Strip and Spring Mountains, making for a unique landscape which incorporates natural desert conditions into play.
MCCLEAR ADVANCES AT US OPEN QUALIFIER
McClear followed up a pair of collegiate medalist honors in the month of April with a first-place finish at the U.S. Open qualifier on May 9 in Grayslake, Illinois. McClear shot nine-under par (63) at Stonewall Orchard Golf Club to advance to final qualifying (June 5), where he will compete for a spot at this year’s U.S. Open.
B1G HONORS
McClear and senior Ronan Kleu each earned Big Ten postseason honors, the league announced on May 3. McClear was named second team All-Big Ten, while Kleu was a Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winner.
The all-conference recognition is the third of McClear’s career after earning second team recognition in 2022 and unanimous All-Big Ten First Team honors in 2021. Earlier this season, McClear was named Co-Big Ten Golfer of the Week (April 19, 2023), the third weekly conference honor of his career. He was also recognized on May 8 as Co-Student-Athlete of the Month by the University of Iowa Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
The sportsmanship recognition is the first Big Ten honor of Kleu career. Previously, Kleu was Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year at Columbus State.
ON THE LINKS
Last time out, the Hawkeyes tied for fifth at the Big Ten Championships, with McClear finishing as Co-Big Ten Champion. Results were based on 36-hole scores as the final round was postponed due to weather. McClear was previously the Big Ten medalist in 2021.
- McClear shot three-under par (139) at Galloway National Golf Club to become Iowa’s first two-time Big Ten Champion, earning the fifth individual conference medalist honors in school history; previous Big Ten medalists for Iowa include Carson Schaake (2015), Brad Klapprott (1992) and John Jacobs (1946).
- McClear is the 17th Big Ten golfer to win multiple conference medalist honors, a tradition which dates back over a century.
- On April 15, Iowa won its second team title of the season, securing the 17th Hawkeye Invitational crown in program history; the Hawkeyes shot a season-best 29-under par (835) team score through three rounds at Finkbine Golf Course
- McClear was the tournament medalist, shooting a season-best 206 (-10) through 54-holes; McClear is now the winningest Hawkeye since 1976 with five collegiate victories (Lonnie Nielsen, six).
LOOKING AHEAD
The NCAA Championships tee off May 26-31 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.