By Connor Sindberg | [email protected]
The Iowa men’s golf team put together a great final round on Sunday during the Hawkeye-Great River Invitational at Finkbine, finishing in a tie for second with Iowa State.
The Hawkeyes finished with a score of 858 (minus-6). Kansas won the event with a score of 849.
Heading into the final round, Iowa was in fourth place but made up ground by carding its best scores of the tournament in the final round.
“The way we played [on Sunday] was very satisfying,” Iowa head coach Tyler Stith said. “We shot 9-under, which was the second-best round of the day. We just ran into a team that played a little bit better than us today.”
Senior Nate Yankovich led the way for the Hawkeyes, finishing third place behind François Lagraulet of Missouri-Kansas City and tournament winner Ruben Sondjaja of Iowa State.
“I’m happy; that’s my best finish of my college career,” Yankovich said. “I left a few out there, but overall, I’m very happy with my performance.”
Stith was also pleased with Yankovich’s tournament score.
“Playing in his last home event, I thought Nate was extremely clutch this weekend,” he said. “He showed leadership with his play, he was consistent throughout both days.”
Yankovich’s score of 210 (minus-6) was highlighted with a 4-under par 68 in the first round. The Blacklick, Ohio, native had four birdies and a rare double eagle on the par-5 hole 11.
“I was 1-under going into 11 and coming off a bogey on No. 10,” Yankovich said about his double eagle. “I put a little extra into a drive, and I had 215 yards in the fairway, hit a 6 iron, and it landed just on the front of the green, and it trickled towards the hole and went in, and then everyone went nuts. It was pretty awesome; it’s my first double eagle, I’ve never even had a hole in one.”
Joining in on Yankovich’s success was Carson Schaake. The junior capped off an excellent tournament with a final round score of 69, finishing in a tie for 10th place. Schaake’s final round helped propel Iowa up two spots in the leaderboard.
Raymond Knoll also saved his best for last. The Naperville, Illinois, native put together his best round of the tournament with a final round score of 69.
Knoll struggled in the first two rounds, finishing with scores of 75 and 72, but his final-round performance pushed him up the leaderboard for a tie for 13th.
“[Rounds one and two] were really tough,” Knoll said. “I was able to put together a really good round to end the tournament, so I’m pretty satisfied with where it all ended up.”
Like Knoll, freshman stud Matthew Walker also struggled in rounds one and two but moved four spots up the leaderboard with a final round 71. Walker’s final-round surge was good for a tie for 24th.
Sophmore Sam Meuret finished with a final round score of 75 and finished tied for 45th.
Competing individually Voramate Aussarassakorn tied for 42nd, and Aaron DeNucci tied for 68th.
After completing their final event of the regular season, the Hawkeyes will have a quick turnaround; the Big Ten Championships in Newburgh, Indiana, will take place Friday through April 24 .
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