It is postseason time for the men’s golf team, and at the May 16 regional, the Hawkeyes will get a chance to show they belong with the nation’s best.
The team will travel to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to battle a 14-team field, including five teams ranked in the top 25 of the Golf Coaches Association of America Poll: No. 6 USC, No. 14 Arizona State, No. 16 South Florida, No. 22 San Diego State, and No. 25 Texas A&M.
In order to advance to the May 27 NCAA Championships, the Hawkeyes will need to finish in the top five, and that will be a tough task with the team seeded 10th.
As underdogs competing against quality competition, senior Nate Yankovich says the Hawks need to focus on their game and not worry about what other teams are doing.
“We just need to take it one round, one shot at a time,” he said. “If we get ahead of ourselves and look up at the leaderboard, that will only hurt us. We just need to stay within ourselves and play our game, and the outcome will take care of itself.”
Yankovich, as well as juniors Raymond Knoll and Carson Schaake, have been the leaders on the team during the season.
They hope freshman Matthew Walker, who has had an up-and-down season, can be the final piece to propel the team to a top-five position.
Walker struggled at the April 16-17 Hawkeye Invitational, but he is coming off a sixth-place finish in his first Big Ten Championships. He credits his work on the greens for his improved play.
“I am finally starting to play the way I know I am capable of playing, and it’s nice to see the putts finally starting to drop,” Walker said.
Besides stellar play from him and the rest of the top four in the lineup, the Hawkeyes hope to use the practice rounds to their advantage.
The team will travel to New Mexico a few days before to the event to adapt to the different playing style and elevation.
“We’ll have a really good idea once we get out there and see the course,” assistant coach Dan Holterhaus said. “We’re going to have to adapt quickly, because we’ve been playing around the Midwest.”
The practice rounds will be crucial for determining what kind of game plan they will need to attack the course.
“Out West, there’s different grass, different weather and elevation, so the majority of our work will be done during that one practice round,” Holterhaus said. “We need to stay patient, work hard in the practice days we’ve been given, and do our best to adjust to the elevation.”
Along with adjusting, the Hawkeyes believe the final step before competition is fine-tuning all aspects of their games.
“It’s just fine-tuning little things here and there, really nothing specific,” Schaake said. “I’m going to focus on being at my best in all the areas of my game. I know that all the hard work I put in this year is going to pay off in the big moments.”
