The Iowa Hawkeyes men’s golf team sits at ninth place in the Gopher Invitational at Spring Hill Golf Club of Wayzata, Minn., after the first two rounds took place Sunday.

The Hawkeyes finished at 25 strokes over par.

“We had an all-around consistent day,” head coach Mark Hankins said. “No one really lit it up, and no one hit poorly. Everyone kind of did the same thing, and we ended up in the middle of the pack.”

All five Hawkeye golfers finished within five strokes of each other.

Ian Vandersee led the Hawks after shooting a first round 75 and second round 74. He sits tied for 22nd place at 5 strokes over par.

Landon Kowalski and Steven Ihm didn’t finish far behind their teammate. Kowalski finished the day at a 7 over par 151, and Ihm ended with a score of 8 over.

Brian Bullington shot a first-round 78 followed by a second-round 75, and Ryan Marks clubbed a 79 in the first round and a 75 in the second.

Marks holed two eagles in his two rounds, which ties him for the most in the tournament. Vandersee and Bullington are tied for second in pars with 27.

“We should be able to adapt to the golf course a little better tomorrow,” Hankins said. “Some of our guys had never seen this course before yesterday. Our goal is to shoot a better score each round, and we’ve done that so far.”

Iowa remains in striking distance to move up in the field with good play tomorrow. The four teams ahead of the Iowa are each within at least eight strokes.

Play will resume today.

— by Tommy Reinking