In May, Iowa men’s golf said goodbye to two great Hawkeye golfers in Raymond Knoll and Carson Schaake.
Both had tremendous college careers as Hawkeyes, each earning All-Big Ten recognition numerous times, and Schaake won the Big Ten Tournament as an individual his sophomore year.

It’s safe to say both left behind big golf bags to fill.

The Hawkeyes hope recently signed UK native Jake Rowe can fill one of those bags.

As last year’s Tandragee Golf Club’s junior captain, Rowe placed second in the Ulster U18 Championship.Rowe’s club was also able to qualify to represent Northern Ireland in the European U18 Golf Championships in Spain. Individually, Rowe dominated the Ulster Winter Series, winning the title by 4 strokes.

As good as Rowe is with a golf club in hand, he’s just as good, if not better, with a hockey stick in his hand. As the captain of Ulster’s field-hockey team, he also represented Northern Ireland at an international level.

Last year, Rowe turned down a position on the U18 field-hockey team to focus on golf.

“We are very excited to welcome Jake into the Iowa golf program,” head coach Tyler Stith said in a release. “We were impressed with his athleticism, technical ability, and strong leadership qualities. He will continue to improve with more experience and has the potential to be an outstanding Big Ten student-athlete.”

Rowe is the second member of Iowa’s 2017 recruiting class, joining Langley, British Columbia, Canada, native Jaewook Lee.

Lee, who recently graduated from Walnut Grove Secondary School, qualified for state four times and each time recorded a top-10 finish. He was also a major contributor for his team when it won its conference championship in 2016.

“I felt I needed to go to the University of Iowa when I talked with Coach Stith,” Lee said in a release, “I love the campus, facilities, and especially the atmosphere around the school. I look forward to starting my career as an Iowa Hawkeye.”

After visiting Iowa, Rowe had at least one thing in common with Lee,and that was that Iowa felt like the place he wanted to be.

The two freshmen hope to maintain the Hawkeye’s run of nine-consecutive NCAA regional