Hawkeyes Head To The Veritex Bank Challenge

THIS WEEK 
The University of Iowa women’s golf team heads to the Lone Star State to compete at the Veritex Bank Challenge on April 7-8. The 54-hole tournament, hosted by SMU, will be played at the Trinity Forest Golf Club (par 72, 6,576 yards) with tee times beginning Monday at 8:45am  (CT).

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

THE LINEUP
Iowa’s lineup includes sophomore Ximena Benites, sophomore Maura Peters, freshman Lily Huether, senior Paula Miranda and junior Riley Lewis.  Junior Kaitlyn Hanna will be playing as an individual.

THE FIELD 
The 15-team field includes Boston College (82), Central Florida (29), East Texas A&M (200), Houston (26), Incarnate Word (234), Iowa (106), Lamar (239), Oklahoma State (29), SMU (33), Tartleton State (115), UT Arlington (183), Texas A&M Commerce (232), Texas Tech (67), Tulsa (73) and Yale (123). (NCAA golf rankings)

THE COURSE
The Trinity Forest Golf Club opened in 2016 and was designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. The course blends together beautiful rolling meadows with native grasses, designed to resemble great old courses of the Northeast and Great Britain. The course honors classic golf by requiring players to strategically think through the entire course.

LAST MEET
Iowa won the team title at the Nashville Invitational, finishing with a 54-hole total of 893 (294-298-301).  The Hawkeyes had three players finish in the top 20 with sophomore Ximena Benites pacing the team, tying for fourth place with a 219.   

TOURNAMENT TITLES
The Hawkeyes have won two tournaments during the 2024-25 season, finishing first at the Diane Thomason Invitational and Nashville Invitational.  It is the most team titles in the same season since the 1999-00 season.  The Diane Thomason Invitational title was the team’s first team title since 2021.

OF NOTE… 
• Senior Paula Miranda has posted a team-best 74.42 scoring average this season with four top-20 and one top 10 finish.  She has led the team in seven of the team’s nine tournaments this season.
• Sophomore Ximena Benites has tallied three straight top 20 finishes, where she has been at or below par in five of the eight rounds.  She has a 74.65 scoring average on the season with two top 10 and five top 20 finishes.
• Benites and Miranda are 1-2 on the team in rounds at or below par.  Benites has a team-high eight rounds, while Miranda has seven.  Miranda has 27 such rounds in her career.
• Sophomore Maura Peters and freshman Lily Huether tallied the highest finishes of their careers at the Nashville Invitational.  Peters tied for seventh place, while Huether finished 20th. 
• Benites fired back-to-back 69s at the Hurricane Invitational, matching the team’s lowest round of the fall.
• Three Hawkeyes -- Miranda, Benites and Peters -- are the only players to compete in all nine tournaments this season.

UP NEXT 
Iowa will head to Havre de Grace, Maryland, for the 2025 Big Ten Championships from April 18-20.