By Jess Westendorf
Iowa golfers Carson and Alex Schaake are not only teammates, they are brothers, and they don’t shy away from some friendly competition.
This fall the Hawkeye men’s golf team added four new additions to the roster, including freshman Alex Schaake. Brother Carson Schaake won the Big Ten Championship two years ago and is now a senior and captain on the team.
“It’s awesome being teammates with my brother,” said Alex. “It’s a lot of fun, we have competitions every day and when we go to tournaments we hang out. It’s nice to have someone here to show me the ropes and help get me through my first year.”
Golf started as a family affair for the Schaake brothers — both of their grandfathers played golf as well as their father. From a young age, the Omaha natives were able to pick up the sport and grow their love for the game. The Schaake family lived on a golf course, so as the brothers got older they would hop on a golf cart and head to the greens.
All the hard work and commitment paid off for them as they grew older.
Carson and Alex played high-school golf at Creighton Prep in Omaha. Carson played from 2009-13 and helped take his high-school team to the state championships every year. His sophomore year of high school, he placed 12th at the Class A state-championship, and during his junior season he won the tournament.
Alex played from 2012-16, so the brothers got one year together, much as they do now at Iowa. Alex also helped lead his high-school team to the state championships all four years he was there. He was a two-time conference champion, while placing third at state in 2014 and second in 2015.
“We played on the same high-school team when I was a senior and he was a freshman, we knew how it was going to work,” Carson said.
Carson didn’t have success right away at Iowa. During his freshman season, he only competed once during the fall. Since that point though, he has been a star.
Head coach Tyler Stith knew he wanted to recruit Alex once the time came. Alex not only followed in his brother’s steps, but he put his own twist on things. Alex left high school ranking No. 46 in the 2016 recruiting class and had formed a close relationship with the Hawkeye program.
“Once I coached Carson and got to know the Schaake family, I knew that I wanted Alex to be a part of our program,” Stith said. “We are a family, our golf team and program is a family, and I want to bring in good families into our Hawkeye family. It was a pretty easy decision for me to bring Alex in.”
Alex is already making an impact for Iowa. He made his Hawkeye début at the Golfweek Conference Challenge and tied for 45th place. He then turned around and made the lineup for the Paintbrush Invitational, where he made his first top-20 finish of his career.
“It’s nice to go out there and be the low Hawk for my second tournament,” Alex said. “It shows me that I can play at this level.”
Talking to both Carson and Alex, they don’t let their family ties get in the way of competition. In fact, it fuels the competition between the two. It is something that stayed with them over the years and continues to drive them.
“Each and every day is competitive between us whether it be with golf or anything,” Carson said. “There is no better time than when it is just him and I out on the golf course playing each other for fun.”
