The Hawkeyes didn’t advance after the second day of play at the Gopher Invitational.

By Rod Engblom
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After 108 holes of play at the Gopher Invitational, at Windsong Farm in Independence, Minnesota, the Hawkeyes finished tied for ninth among the 15 teams in the squad’s first tournament of the year.

Iowa finished with a team score of 892 (plus-40) for the three rounds of the tournament, missing the seventh place by 2 strokes. Oklahoma came in first at 854, followed by California’s 875 and Baylor’s 877.

“We had an opportunity to make a move today, and we didn’t take advantage,” Hawk head coach Tyler Stith said. “Ray and Nate led us with solid top-20 finishes.”

Junior Ray Knoll finished his final round of the tournament with a 76 (plus-5) and tied for 14th overall individually. Senior Nate Yanchovich rallied on his final round of the tournament, shooting a 71 and tied for 17th.

Junior Carson Schaake finished up his last round of the tournament with a 73 tied for 39. Freshman Matthew Walker finished his last round on a high note, shooting a 73 to finish his first collegiate tournament. Sophomore Sam Meuret ended the tournament with an 80 finishing off his rough start to the year.

Although they had two top-20 finishes on the team, the Hawkeyes came into this tournament expecting to finish much better than ninth.

“We have time before our next event,” Stith said. “We will use that to clean a few things up.”

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