The Iowa men’s golf team will host the GolfWeek Conference Challenge today through Oct. 2 at Spirit Hollow Golf Course in Burlington.
This will be the seventh-consecutive year for Spirit Hollow to host the GolfWeek Conference Challenge. This year, the course will be played as a par-72 stretching 7,301 yards. Richard Jacobson designed the course, which opened in 2000. Since then, the course has hosted events for the U.S. Amateur qualifier, U.S. Open qualifier, and the Iowa Senior Amateur.
“Spirit Hollow is a golf course the guys enjoy playing,” head coach Tyler Stith said in a release. “They feel comfortable there.”
The first and second rounds of tournament play will start today and Saturday with tee times set at 9 a.m. The final round will have a tee time of 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 2.
The Hawkeyes will be joined by a field of teams from 11 different conferences, including Kansas (Big 12) and Texas A&M (SEC), to name a few.
The lineup for this weekend has not been released, but the Hawkeyes will try to defend their title no matter whom they play. Last year, the Hawkeyes took home the title with a total score of 842 (22-under). That was the fifth-best score in program history as well as the first win for Tyler Stith as head coach.
Expect to see seniors Carson Schaake and Raymond Knoll in the lineup for this weekend, Knoll being the champion of the 2015 GolfWeek Conference Challenge. He recorded the lowest three-round score in the program’s history, 205 (11-under).
Schaake also showed out for the Hawkeyes in 2015 when he became the third Hawkeye in the program’s history to win the individual Big Ten Championship.
“Ray’s score last year was the best in school history; every year is going to be a little different,” said Stith in a release. “The course will be set up different, and the playing conditions will be different, but I know it’s a place everyone enjoys playing, and we anticipate being in contention on Sunday.”
Sophomore Matthew Walker may only be in his second season with the golf team but that has not stopped him from making Hawkeye history. Walker was the first true freshman to play in every tournament last season since Sean McCarty in 1992.
He has started this season off right with landing a spot on the Big Ten Men’s Golf Preseason Watch List and led the Hawkeyes during the Windon Memorial Classic last weekend in Glenview, Illinois. Walker came out and shot back-to-back 70s (2-under) in the first and second rounds. The third and final round he shot a 77 to give him a tie for eighth place. He shot the best three-round score for the Hawkeyes to help the Hawkeyes secure an eighth-place victory.
The Hawkeyes have depth this year as well as a young roster. Six of the nine men on the team this season are sophomores and freshmen. This past off-season, Iowa added four freshmen and have already seen two make their college débuts this season.
It will be interesting to see who makes the cut and qualifies for the team lineup this weekend, with all the talent the team holds.
Looking ahead to after the GolfWeek Conference Challenge, the Hawkeyes will start to prepare for their next tournament, in Denver. The team will have a week off before they head to Denver for the Paintbrush Intercollegiate hosted by the University of Denver on Oct. 10-11.
