By Jess Westendorf
The Iowa men’s golf team placed 10th at the Paintbrush Invitational in Parker, Colorado, on Tuesday.
Leading the Hawkeyes was freshman Alex Schaake, who jumped up 23 spots on the leaderboard from Monday to Tuesday to tie for 18th. He recorded a three round total of 218 (2-over) to give him his lowest 54-hole total of his career and his first top-20 finish.
“Alex played a really great round today, and he was a couple shots away from having a really great round yesterday,” said head coach Tyler Stith in a release. “It’s been a lot of fun to watch his growth over the last few weeks. He’s already proven he can play at this level.”
Schaake made his Hawkeye début last weekend at the Golfweek Conference Challenge in Burlington.
Senior Raymond Knoll and junior Sam Meuret also made moves on the leaderboard Tuesday in the final round. Knoll jumped eight spots in the final round to 39th overall. He shot a 75 (3-over) in the final round to give him a 54-hole score of 224 (8-over). Meuret climbed 11 spots to tie for 51st overall. He also shot a 75 (3-over) to end with a final score of 227 (11-over).
Senior Carson Schaake and sophomore Matthew Walker rounded out the lineup, tying for 57th. Schaake shot a 78 (6-over) during the third round to help give him a 54-hole score of 228 (12-over). Walker registered round scores of 74, 71, and 83 to also finish with a three-round total of 228 (12-over).
“This week we are going to work on our short game to get ourselves ready to face the test of Royal Oaks,” said Stith in a release. “We have to be able to hit recovery shots. This week we just weren’t able to do that.”
The Hawkeyes will turn their attention and focus to their next tournament, the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate in Dallas, set for Oct. 24-25.