On Sunday, a rising sophomore on the Iowa men’s golf team took the amateur title at the Waterloo Open.
And he is not the first in his family to capture it.
Alex Schaake continued the family tradition following in his older brother’s footsteps by shooting 11 under to secure the title with a 1-stroke victory.
His older brother, Carson Schaake, an ex-Hawkeye golfer, had taken the event twice in the past three years.
Alex Schaake entered the last day 4 strokes behind different leaders, hoping to catch them on the leaderboard.
He got off to a good start but really hit his stride on the back nine. Schaake birdied five of his final nine holes to land the 1-stroke victory over Illinois State’s Trey Tussey.
He shot a 2-under 35 while birdieing holes 10, 11, 12, 14, and 16 to give him a day score of 65, his best round at any amateur this year.
“Two-under on the front, it’s good, but I felt like it could have been better,” he said. “Where I got going was hole 10 and 11. Those are two really tough holes, and I birdied both of them. I made some good putts. Every putt I stood over, I just felt comfortable.”
Winning this tournament was a great homecoming for Schaake. He was born in Waterloo, but his family moved to Omaha early on in his life.
“Our whole family is from here; I love the Waterloo Open,” he said. “I always love coming back here.”
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This was also his chance to use his knowledge of the Irv Warren Course to his advantage with the support of many friends and family who still live in the Waterloo area.
“We come back here four or five times a year to either play in the tournament or for family holidays,” Schaake said to an online source. “It’s special for us with the course being four or five minutes from my grandfather’s house, where we stay. It’s just awesome.”
For Carson Schaake, he moved over to the professional side of the tournament. He tied for 13th while ending with 16-under.
The brothers had success at the tournament, but what stands out is the brotherly love between the two.
Alex Schaake’s Iowa athletics biography lists his brother as his most influential person, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Alex showed a range of emotions winning a tournament his brother has had so much success playing in.
“It’s awesome,” Alex Schaake told KWWL. “Just to be able to compare myself with him and other guys who have won the Waterloo Open. It’s awesome.”