Men’s golf ends up seventh

Jess Westendorf, [email protected]

October 2, 2016

Iowa junior Carson Schaake drives the ball of the tee at Finkbine Golf Course on Saturday April 16, 2016. Iowa tied for second in the Hawkeye Invitational. (The Daily Iowan/ Alex Kroeze)

Iowa senior Raymond Knoll and sophomore Matthew Walker made top-10 finishes in Sunday’s round to help secure the Hawkeyes seventh-place at the GolfWeek Conference Challenge in Burlington.

Iowa struggled in the first two rounds of the tournament at Spirit Hollow Golf Course, but Sunday was a different story. The Hawkeyes finished the third and final round of the tournament with a score of 284 (4-under), their best round score of the tournament.

That gave the Hawkeyes a tournament score of 874 (10-over).

“Today was definitely better for us,” said head coach Tyler Stith in a release. “In order to get ourselves into contention, we have to improve a lot. We’re looking forward to the week ahead.”

Knoll, who won the 2015 GolfWeek Conference Challenge as a junior, recorded a final tournament score of 209 (7-under). He finished in third-place behind Chase Hanna (Kansas) and Chandler Phillips (Texas A&M).

“I felt good out there,” he said in a release. “I just wanted to come out and give it another shot, especially because it’s my final year here. To play the way I did was really exciting and fun.”

Walker, who also made an impressive top-10 finish, had an incredible day. He jumped 22 spots up on the leader board after the third round. He finished with a tournament score of 214 with a third round score of 66 (6-under). This was his career-best 18-hole score and the lowest round recorded by any golfer in the tournament.

“It felt good to finally get some putts to drop,” said Walker in a release. “I feel good; I do have some things to fine tune, but today was a step in the right direction.”

Next in line for the Hawkeyes was senior Carson Schaake and freshman Alex Schaake, who tied for 42nd and 45th. Carson Schaake recorded a final score of 226 and a third round score of 76.

Alex Schaake made his college début at the GolfWeek Conference Challenge this weekend and stayed consistent. He made round scores of 75, 77, and 75 to give him a final score of 227. He tied for 45th with Hubert Tisserand of Missouri-Kansas City.

Junior Sam Meuret ended the Hawkeye lineup and tied for 50th overall with a score of 230. Sunday, he played his best round of the tournament ending with a 74 to give him.

Next up for the Hawkeyes will be the Paintbrush Intercollegiate in Denver on Oct. 10-11.