The Iowa men’s and women’s golf teams are officially one week into the 2016-2017 season and both teams are eager to get back to the greens.
The Hawkeye men’s team kicked off their season at the Gopher Invitational in Independence, Minnesota on Sept. 10 at Windsong Farm Golf Club. The Hawkeyes overcame three long rounds and a tough field to place seventh at the tournament.
The team played in the Gopher Invitational last fall and knew that they wanted and could perform better, and they did. Last fall, the Hawkeyes placed ninth out of 15 teams in the tournament, so when asked how he felt about the Invitational, it was no surprise that head coach Tyler Stith was impressed with his team.
“The guys are pleased with how we started and so am I, it was a really strong field on a difficult golf course,” Stith said. “I thought we did a really good job, I know we have some things to improve on but for our first tournament of the year I thought we played really well.”
Senior Carson Schaake also thought that the team improved from last year.
“Compared to last year, I think the team played pretty well,” Schaake said. “It’s a difficult golf course and we had two true freshmen play on the team and they brought their best game.”
Freshmen Ryoto Furuya and Jack Simpson cracked the lineup with the Hawkeyes and made their collegiate debut at the Gopher Invitational and finished within a stroke of each other. The last day, both men came through for the Hawkeyes and added the extra shots the team needed. Furuya shot a 74 and Simpson shot a 75 to help secure the Hawks seventh place.
“We have the most depth on the team since I’ve been here,” Stith said. “We have nine guys who all want to play and can play, so if we can continue to push each other and make each other better it will benefit the team.”
The team will do just that and continue to challenge one another as they prepare for the Windon Memorial Classic at Northwestern on Sept. 25 and 26.
The women’s golf team traveled to Texas to open their season at the Red Raider Invitational on Sept. 12. The Hawkeyes played three long rounds at the Rawls Golf Club at Texas Tech and finished the tournament in sixth place, only one back from last year’s tournament finish of fifth place.
Standing out for the Hawkeyes was junior Jessica Ip. Ip recorded a second-place score of one-under par overall, her best finish since winning the Diane Thomason Invitational.
Ip was also one of two Hawkeyes to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship this past summer.
“Jessica had a great week, we are thrilled for her. We know that she is very capable every time she tee’s it up that she will have an opportunity to come home with a victory.” Said women’s head coach Megan Menzel.
Ip was not the only one to make an impression this week — freshman Sophie Liu made her college debut as a Hawkeye and placed 22nd overall. Liu shot the second best score for the Hawkeyes with a 226 overall. The Vancouver native was also one of six freshmen named to the Big Ten watch list — and one of three Hawkeyes named to the list.
Liu was the second Hawkeye to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship this past summer.
She said her experience playing at the U.S. Women’s Amateur has given her a boost heading into her fall season.
“It definitely gives me a lot of confidence that I can play with some of the older girls like the seniors and juniors,” Liu said. “It has also given me a lot of courage that I can play their game.”
