Hawkeyes Set to Open Spring Season in Guadalajara

THIS WEEK  
The University of Iowa women’s golf team will open its spring season on Friday and Saturday at the Collegiate Invitational in Guadalajara, Mexico, in a tournament hosted by the University of Virginia.  The 54-hole tournament will be played at the Guadalajara Country Club (par 72, 6,210 yards) with tee times beginning at 8 a.m. (CT).

FOLLOW LIVE  
Fans can follow the tournament via live scoring on Scoreboard, powered by Clippd.  

THE LINEUP 
Iowa’s lineup includes senior Paula Miranda, sophomore Ximena Benites, sophomore Maura Peters, freshman Lily Huether and junior Riley Lewis.  
• Miranda will be returning to her home country to kickoff her final spring collegiate season, while Huether will be making her first collegiate start.

THE FIELD  
The 12-team field includes Colorado (54), Colorado State (75), Florida State (12), Georgia (62), Houston (25), Iowa (123), Maryland (64), NC State (45), SMU (43), TCU (23), Virginia (11) and Washington (52).  (NCAA golf rankings)

THE COURSE  
The Guadalajara Country Club in Jalisco is the annual host of the LPGA’s Lorena Ochoa Invitational.  The course, which was designed by American course architect John Bredemus, has a classic parkland layout that is different from the more tropical courses that Mexico’s resorts are known for.  It offers a landscape with mature oak trees and strategically placed bunkers.  The course opened in 1942 and it has earned a longstanding reputation as one of the finest courses in Mexico.

LAST MEET 
Sophomore Ximena Benites notched a career-best finish to lead the Hawkeyes to a fourth place finish at the Hurricane Invitational in Miami in October. Benites fired a one-under par 215 (77-69-69) to tie for fourth overall. Iowa finished with an 878 team total as three players finished inside the top 30 and all five Hawkeyes were in the top 40.

OF NOTE…  
• Senior Paula Miranda posted a team-best 74.58 scoring average during the fall season with two top-20 and one top 10 finish.  She led the team in three of the four fall tournaments.
• Sophomore Ximena Benites had back-to-back 69s at the Hurricane Invitational, matching the team’s lowest round of the fall.
• Three Hawkeyes -- Miranda, Benites and Maura Peters -- were the only players to compete in all four fall tournaments.  The trio all had 11 of their 12 rounds count toward Iowa’s team totals in the fall.
• Iowa won the Diane Thomason Invitational in October at Finkbine Golf Course.  It was the program’s first win since 2021.  
• The Hawkeyes finished with an 878 total at the Hurricane Invitational, which is the ninth-best 54-hole score in program history.

UP NEXT  
The Hawkeyes will have three weeks off before returning to action in the Lone Star State at the Chevron Collegiate in Humble, Texas, on Feb. 24-25.