It all comes down to this weekend for Iowa men’s golf as it takes off to Baltimore to compete in the Big Ten Championships.
This will be a very important tournament for the Hawkeyes — they are trying to keep alive a nine-year streak of making the NCAA regionals.
“It would be really cool,” coach Tyler Stith said. “It’s a great accomplishment because it’s a comprehensive goal, you need to be consistent throughout the year. We just believe that if we have a good solid week, we’ll have a great chance to make it 10 in a row.”
A solid week is definitely possible for the Hawkeyes after the last two tournaments, in which the Black and Gold did have solid performances. Iowa hopes it can take the momentum and channel that toward postseason success.
“We’re coming off two really good finishes,” Stith said. “So we’re playing as well as we have all spring long, and we’re just looking to build on the momentum and have a good tournament.”
Iowa’s recent run of success comes after struggling in March; the Hawkeyes failed to finish in the top half of any field in their two March tournaments.
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“The improvements we’ve been making the last couple weeks has been really good,” Alex Schaake said. “Hopefully, that keeps up this weekend.”
While Iowa has basked in some recent success, it isn’t infallible by any stretch. This year, bad finishes have haunted the Hawkeyes. A poor finish in the Hawkeye Invitational gave away a tournament victory to rival Iowa State, and a similar outcome occurred in Columbus last weekend.
“We got to get rid of those silly mistakes,” Schaake said. “We haven’t been finishing golf tournaments. Finishing well is a big key for me; I’ve been struggling with that as well.”
Avoiding those tough mistakes will be a task left up to the usual one-two punch for the Hawkeyes, Schaake and Matthew Walker.
“All year Walker and Schaake have been our go-to guys,” Stith said. “Both of them have experience in Big Ten championships before so in order for us to be competitive they’re going to have to be up to their game.”
Shaake and Walker will man the one and two spots, respectively, in the Iowa lineup, followed by Alex Moorman, Sam Meuret, and Benton Weinberg — the same lineup that finished sixth in last weekend’s Kepler Invitational, which featured many teams that will be present this weekend.
The Big Ten Championships will tee off at Baltimore Country Club, which has received a great deal of praise. It was also the site of last year’s Big Ten Championships, which Walker hopes to take advantage of this weekend.