By Jess Westendorf
As the Iowa men’s golf team prepares for its next tournament, the Windon Memorial Classic at Northwestern, one man stands out.
Junior Sam Meuret certainly gave the Hawkeyes a reason to celebrate after he gave an impressive performance in the Gopher Invitational in Independence, Minnesota. Meuret shot an overall score of 214 (2-under) putting him in a tie for third place representing Iowa at Pioneer Creek Golf Course.
Head coach Tyler Stith was proud of Meuret’s finish.
“I was excited for Sam, even though he was not playing for the team in the tournament, he still had an opportunity to win a college event,” Stith said. “There were going to be 50 other guys there who were good players, and he definitely stepped up. I think it gave him a lot of confidence.”
The Nebraska native said he felt good coming off the first tournament of the season.
“I feel confident heading into the next one,” Meuret said. “It was nice to get the first tournament out of the way and get back into the competition. As well as getting used to getting ready for tournaments and playing every other week.”
Meuret’s history and love of the game started with his family and friends. His older brother first gained his interest in golf, but as time went on, the game became more serious and competitive. Now, he has played golf for 12 years and has dreams of playing on the PGA Tour.
“It’s obviously a team sport in college, but growing up, the focus was on individual and making yourself better every day,” Meuret said. “It is a lot of long-term goals and ups and downs. I just really enjoyed the challenge and found it fun.”
His hard work paid off and started to show as Meuret entered Plainview Public High School in Brunswick, Nebraska. There, he recorded the lowest nine-hole record (30) and season average (72.6) in school history. He competed and won the 2013 U.S. Junior Amateur qualifier, 2013 Nebraska Junior title, and the 2013 Nebraska Class C State Championship.
From there, his game got better. In the fall of 2015, during his sophomore year at Iowa, he competed at the John Dallio Memorial as an individual. His final score card showed a 12-over-par and a tie for fifth place, his first top-10 finish of his college career.
Last season, Meuret competed in four tournaments, including the ASU Thunderbird Invitational, in which he carded the lowest 54-hole score of his career, shooting a 217 (4-over). He also recorded his first hole-in-one at the invitational.
Next, he aided Iowa in securing a second-place finish at the Hawkeye Invitational by scoring a 225 (9-over) and tying for 45th place.
Like many other players, he does have dreams of playing on the PGA Tour and competing at the professional level. But the focus is still on this season and the seasons to come. When asked about dreams and expectations, his goal was to stay in the now and go day by day.
“The ultimate goal is the PGA Tour; that is something you just take year by year and hope to keep improving,” Meuret said. “There is always something to get better at, and you just have to do the best you can in college and go from there.”
