THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa men’s golf team is back in action Friday through Sunday at the Schenkel Invitational in Statesboro, Georgia. The three-day, 54-hole event takes place at Forest Heights Country Club where the Hawkeyes have competed the last four years.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Round 1: Friday, March 16 -- Tee times between 9-11 a.m. (ET)
Round 2: Saturday, March 17 -- Tee times between 9-11 a.m. (ET)
Round 3: Sunday, March 18 -- Tee times between 8-10 a.m. (ET)
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Fans can follow this weekend’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
The field consists of 14 teams including Iowa, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, No. 4 Florida, Notre Dame, UAB, Charleston, Richmond, No. 3 Vanderbilt, NC State, Kentucky, ETSU, Mississippi State, and Minnesota.
THE COURSE
The 54-hole tournament will be played at Forest Heights Country Club. Playing as a par-72, 6,962 yard course, Forest Heights has hosted the Annual Southeastern Amateur Golf Tournament, as well as the Southern Conference Tournament.
THE LINEUP
Alex Schaake, Matthew Walker, Benton Weinberg, Sam Meuert, and Alex Moorman are the five Hawkeye golfers competing in this weekend’s tournament.
QUOTING COACH TYLER STITH
“We identified some areas that need improvement. We have to learn from Monday and bounce to back with a strong team performance. The Schenkel is a great opportunity for us to get back on track. We have experience here and excited for the challenge.”
LAST TIME OUT
In Iowa’s first stroke-play event of the spring, the Hawkeyes placed eighth in the 36-hole Southern Intercollegiate that featured 18-teams and challenging weather. Schaake paced the Hawkeyes with a third-place finish at two-under-par (142), while Walker tied for 22nd to secure his fifth top-30 finish of the year. Jack Simpson made his first stroke-play appearance in this tournament.
HISTORICALLY AT SCHENKEL
This year will mark the fourth straight year Iowa has played at the Schenkel Invtitational. Last year’s sixth place finish was Iowa’s best finish in the event with a 54-hole total of 862 (-2; 281, 291, 297). Matthew Walker, who tied for 24th with an even-par 216, Alex Schaake, Jack Simpson, and Ryoto Furuya all competed in last year’s competition.
WALKER THRIVES IN MATCH PLAY
In this year’s Big Ten Match Play Championships, junior Matthew Walker won three out of four individual matches to improve his career match play record to 10-2. He went 4-0 as a freshman, making him one of only six golfers to do so for the tournament. In back-to-back years, Walker finished 3-1 to have only two career losses on his career resume.
SCHAAKE’S THIRD TOP-FIVE FINISH
Adding to his two top-five finishes in the fall, Alex Schaake placed third in the Southern Intercollegiate on Monday. The sophomore fired back-to-back even par or better rounds to finish the tournament two-under-par and one stroke off the lead. His first top-five finish of the season came in a runner-up performance at the Golfweek Conference Challenge at the Cedar Rapids Country Club. Next, at the Windon Memorial Classic, he posted three consecutive rounds at or below par at the Evanston Golf Club to tie for fifth place.
FALL RECAP
The Hawkeyes competed in five fall tournaments, averaging 73.63 strokes per round as a team. Iowa’s best finish came at the Golfweek Conference Challenge in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where they finished second out of 15 teams with four Hawkeye golfers finishing in the top 20. Sophomore Alex Schaake, who finished second in the Golfweek Conference Challenge, had the lowest Hawkeye scoring average of 71.47. For the fall, seven Hawkeyes had top-20 finishes, while the team recorded 27 rounds at or below par.
CLIMBING THE LEADERBOARD
• Five Hawkeyes -- Ryoto Furuya, Sam Meuret, Alex Schaake, Matthew Walker, and Benton Weinberg -- have competed in at least 14 rounds.
• Schaake now has eight rounds at or below par after shooting in the red twice in the Southern Intercollegiate. Schaake also holds Iowa’s low 18-hole average of 71.41, followed by Matthew Walker’s 72.41 strokes-per-round average.
• The Hawkeyes have now competed in 100 rounds of play this season and are averaging 73.91 strokes per round.
• Iowa’s low 18-hole score of the season came in the first round of the Windon Memorial Classic when they fired a 276 (-4). Schaake, Walker, and Alex Moorman carded below par rounds, while Moorman’s 67 tied for the lowest 18-hole round of the season.
• Benton Weinberg’s best performance of the season happened at Iowa’s last fall tournament in the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate when he used a career-best 54-hole score of 212 (-1) to finish a season-best tied for 17th.
WALKER IS A WORK HORSE
Junior Matthew Walker was the first true freshman to compete in every fall tournament for the Hawkeyes since Cole Peevler in 2015. In two and a half years as a Hawkeye, Walker has competed in every event dating back to his freshman year.
HAWKEYE NEWCOMERS
Iowa added two freshmen to its 2017-18 roster. Jaewook Lee (Langley, British Columbia) and Jake Rowe (Portadown, Northern Ireland). The freshmen competed in their first collegiate tournaments as individuals in the Zach Johnson Invitational, Oct. 2-3.
9 STRAIGHT NCAA APPEARANCES
Iowa has advanced to NCAA competition in each of the last nine seasons, joining Illinois as the only Big Ten teams selected to NCAA Regional competition in each of the last nine seasons. Iowa has advanced to the NCAA Championship finals three times in the last eight years (2009, 2011, 2012).
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.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Hawkeyes travel to Eugene, Oregon, to compete in the Duck Invitational, March 26-27. It will be Iowa’s first ever appearance in this tournament.