Iowa women’s golf heads to the beach in Mexico
The Hawkeye women will hit the links for the first time in weeks – in warm weather.
Iowa golfer Kristin Glesne stands for a portrait at the Hoak Practice Facility at the Finkbine Gold Course on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2017.
November 2, 2018
It has been three weeks since the Iowa women’s golf team has taken to the course for competition.
The Hawkeyes are itching to get back to it and compete in its last tournament of the fall slate — Battle of the Beach in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, hosted by Baylor.
The tournament will be held at the Club Campestre San Jose along the foothills of the Sierra Del La Laguna Mountains today through Nov. 4.
The tournament will bring sunshine and warmer weather for the Hawkeyes as they close out the fall slate. Iowa will be joined by 16 teams.
The field includes host Baylor, Auburn, No. 24 Clemson, Denver, Houston, Mississippi State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, TCU, Tulane, Tulsa, Alabama-Birmingham, New Mexico, No. 6 Vanderbilt, and No. 5 Virginia.
Some teams that stand out are the three teams that received Golfstat Relative Rankings: Virginia, Vanderbilt, and Clemson.
Iowa will send a strong lineup consisting of senior Shawn Rennegarbe, sophomore Stephanie Herzog, freshman Manuela Lizarazu, sophomore Brett Permann, and junior Sophie Liu.
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The Hawkeyes have been able to show some depth, and Rennegarbe has stepped up to lead.
Coming into the fall schedule, Rennegarbe was named a Big Ten Preseason Honoree for her hard work. She competed in every competition the Hawkeyes entered last season and also shot a new career-best at the Hawkeye El-Tigre Invitational, tying for 20th place.
This fall, the coaches and the program expected big things from her, and she did not disappoint them.
The Hawkeyes hosted the Diane Thomason Invitational at Finkbine on Sept. 29-30. It was a homecoming in the making, and Rennegarbe took charge.
She placed first in the tournament, and Iowa took home the first-place team title.
The next week, she received her first ever Big Ten Golfer of the Week honor.
Going into this final tournament, Iowa will have the usual expectation of good results from her. And it is also beneficial for the younger golfers to see the success as well.
This fall and especially in this tournament’s lineup for Iowa, it has a fairly young squad with one junior, two sophomores, and one freshman.
Iowa also had some talented newcomers join the squad — Dana Lerner, Permann, and Lizarazu.
Lizarazu and Lerner have competed in the last four tournaments for the Hawkeyes. Lizarazu placed in each of the four tournaments, including third at the Thomason Invitational, and Lerner tied for sixth.
The Battle of the Beach will be the third tournament for Permann.
