Men’s golf finishes 14th, women tied at 7th

Men’s and women’s golf competed in their first meets of the season

Sean Bock, [email protected]

September 11, 2017

Iowa golfer Ryoto Furuya smiles after sinking a putt during a men’s golf practice on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. (Joseph Cress/The Daily Iowan)

The Iowa men’s golf team wrapped up their first tournament of the 2017-18 season, finishing 14th at the Gopher Invitational.

Sophomore Ryoto Furuya shot a personal best 69 (minus-2) for the Hawkeyes on the last day and finished with a career low of 219 for the tournament.

Sophomore Alex Schaake shot 8-over in 54 holes, good for a tie for 42nd. Junior Matthew Walker was 10-over, which tied him for 51st.

“Today was very disappointing, but we have to pick ourselves up quickly and look ahead to this weekend in Cedar Rapids,” head coach Tyler Stith said in a release. “Ryoto [Furuya] played great and showed a glimpse of what he’s capable of. [Monday’s] round will give him more confidence and belief in his game.”

Arkansas took the title on the last day by 10 strokes over Baylor, and Oklahoma finished third.

Iowa got off to a quick start, tied with Oklahoma and Purdue for sixth, but a frustrating second and third round dropped the Hawkeyes down the leaderboard.

Iowa will play host Sept. 17-19 at the Golfweek Conference Challenge at the Cedar Rapids Country Club.

The Hawkeyes will go head-to-head with a hodgepodge of programs; teams from 15 conferences will compete in Cedar Rapids.

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Meanwhile, the Iowa women started their first competition of the season.

After two rounds of action at the Branch Law Firm Invitational in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the women’s team sits in seventh place at 6-over.

Junior Kristin Glesne led the way for the Hawkeyes after shooting 73 in the first round and 70 in the second to put her at 1-under for the day. Glesne’s score is a career high and puts her in a tie for eighth.

Senior Jessica Ip also put together a solid first and second round, shooting 1-over on the day, tied for 23rd.

Not too far behind Ip, senior Elisa Suarez sits tied for 28th after shooting 2-over.

Rounding out the Iowa lineup are junior Shawn Rennegarbe and senior Morgan Kukla, who tied for 53rd and 79th.

Glesne led the Hawkeyes with a team-high 7 birdies, and Ip followed with 6.

Currently at the top of the leaderboard is Oklahoma State at 1-under, Arizona at even, Colorado at 1-over, and Northwestern at 2-over.