Iowa golf teams find two different results

Iowa men’s and women’s golf had two very different results at their respective tournaments.

Iowa’s Ryoto Furuya watches his ball land on the green after chipping during a tournament at the Donald Ross Course at the Cedar Rapids Country Club in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2017.

Pete Ruden, Sports Editor
September 18, 2018

The Iowa men’s and women’s golf teams wrapped up their respective tournaments Tuesday, and the results could not have been more different.

On the men’s side, the Hawkeyes placed second in the Golfweek Conference Challenge in Cedar Rapids, but the women finished 17th of 17 teams at the Mercedes-Benz Intercollegiate in Knoxville, Tennessee.

The Iowa men had a shortened tournament — the Golfweek’s third and final round on Tuesday was canceled because of rain.

The Hawkeyes ended up in second place for the second-straight year, shooting a 565, trailing only Arkansas State’s 553.

Iowa also had four finishers in the top 25. Alex Schaake led the Hawkeyes, taking second with a 5-under 139, finishing closely behind Arkansas State’s Julian Sale, who shot a 136.

“Alex played very well today; he got it going on the front nine,” Iowa head coach Tyler Stith said in a release after the second round. “We could not get anything going on the back nine; we made a lot of pars and a few bogeys here and there. Arkansas State made a lot of birdies and ran away with a 12-shot lead.”

Freshman Gonzalo Leal Montero continued his strong start in just his second college tournament, shooting 140 and finishing fifth.

Matthew Walker followed with a 142, tying for 13th, and Alex Moorman tied for 22nd with an even par 144. Benton Weinberg rounded things out for the Hawkeyes with a 146.

Although the tournament — Iowa’s only home tourney of the fall season — got cut short, playing in front of Hawkeye fans was a welcome experience for the team.

“To play in front of our fans is pretty special,” Shaake said in a release. “Even [Weinberg’s] parents came all the way from Maryland to watch. There is a different vibe playing at your home course, seeing different faces and fans wearing Hawkeye gear. It’s really cool.”

The Hawkeye women, however, did not exactly have a successful tournament.

Iowa shot a three-round score of 939 (87-over) to finish 17th, 69 strokes behind No. 15 Kent State, which won the tournament at 870.

Shawn Rennegarbe led the Hawkeyes, carding a 54-hole score of 232 (19-over) and tying for 62nd. She had the best single round of the Iowa golfers, posting a 74 in the second round.

Fellow senior captain Kristen Glesne and Dana Lerner followed with 236s.

Lerner climbed eight spots up the leaderboard after shooting a 76 in the final round. The score was Iowa’s second-best at the competition.

Stephanie Herzog and Manuela Lizarazu rounded out the scoring for Iowa, shooting 237 and 240, respectively.

Luckily for the Hawkeye women, they will stay in Iowa City for their next competition, which may help them relax because of the familiarity. They will host the Diane Thomason Invitational from Sept. 29-30 for the first time since 2015, looking to defend their team title from that year.

The Iowa men will resume competition at the Marquette Intercollegiate at Erin, Wisconsin, on Sept. 30-Oct. 2.