THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa men’s golf team is set host the Hawkeye Invitational at Finkbine Golf Course in Iowa City, Iowa April 13-14th.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
The tournament tees off on Saturday and concludes Sunday with 54 holes being played through two days. The format of the tournament is a shotgun start teeing off at 8:15 a.m. (CT) on Saturday and Sunday.
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 FIELD
Sixteen schools will be competing in this year’s Hawkeye Invitational. Central Arkansas, Creighton, Drake, Illinois State, Kansas, Missouri State, Murray State, Nebraska, Northern Illinois, South Dakota State, Southern Illinois, Texas Christian University (TCU), Kansas City, Wichita State, and Wisconsin.
THE COURSE
Finkbine Golf Course is an 18-hole public golf course that is home to the University of Iowa Men’s and Women’s golf teams. Finkbine spreads over 200 acres of rolling Iowa terrain. The course features Bentgrass greens, tees, tree-lined fairways, 50+ well-manicured sand traps and a signature hole (the par-3, 13th) that offers a double green with a tee shot over the lone water feature on the course. Finkbine Golf Course is owned by the University of Iowa Athletic Department and is named after W.O. Finkbine, who donated the land to the University of Iowa. Finkbine Golf Course is managed by Troon Golf.
In 2022, the Des Moines Register ranked Finkbine the No. 5 public access course in the state of Iowa. Finkbine was the site of the 2002 Big Ten Men’s Golf Championships.
LINK UP WITH THE HAWKEYES
For an inside look at the Iowa men’s golf program and to access exclusive coverage, “like” Hawkeye men’s golf on Facebook and follow @IowaHawkeyeGolf on Twitter and Instagram.
THE EVENT
2024 marks the 30th edition of the historic Hawkeye Invitational as Iowa seeks its 18th championship in the tournament’s history. The Hawkeyes have won three of the last four team titles dating back to 2019 (event was canceled in 2020). Iowa had three top-ten finishers at the event last season, placing first as a team. Mac McClear was the individual medalist at 10-under par.
Iowa claimed the inaugural team title in 1970, as well as the next seven in a string lasting through 1981. Other champions include Wisconsin, Kent State, Western Illinois, and Kansas.
Iowa has won 17 Hawkeye Invitational titles and has crowned 16 individual champions in the tournament’s history, including the 2019 season when Matthew Walker and Alex Schaake claimed co-medalist honors. The duo each posted a program record, tournament record, and career-best 54-hole score of 199 (-14), topping the previous school mark by four strokes. Schaake defended his individual crown in 2021, finishing two strokes ahead of teammate Mac McClear, who was runner-up.
The tournament has hosted several different teams and has been played in a few different formats, but two things have remained the same: Finkbine Golf Course has always been home to the invite and many of the Midwest’s best teams have been showcased.
HEAR FROM HEAD COACH TYLER STITH
“We look forward to hosting the Hawkeye Invitational every spring, it’s nice to sleep in your own bed and play your home golf course. We’ve had a lot of success here over the last 10 years. We feel like we’ve got a tremendous home court advantage. We look forward to getting out there this weekend and putting ourselves in contention and have a chance to win on Sunday. Hopefully we get some momentum from this week that we can take with us into the post season.”
LOOKING AHEAD
The Hawkeyes will travel to Columbus, Ohio to compete in the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate hosted by Ohio State at OSU Scarlet Course. This event will conclude the Hawkeye’s regular season before they compete in the Big Ten Championships.