Manuela Lazarazu leads Iowa women’s golf in Mexico
Iowa women’s golf ended its season with an impressive performance from Manuela Lizarazu.
A volunteer scorekeeper watches play during the Diane Thomason Invitational at Finkbine Golf Course on Sept. 30, 2018.The Hawkeyes placed first overall.
November 5, 2018
The Iowa women’s golf team concluded play at the Battle at the Beach on Sunday in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and freshman Manuela Lizarazu took the spotlight.
She led the Hawkeyes with a season-best 54-hole score of 219 (6-over), landing her in a tie for 19th place.
Iowa placed 15th with a score of 918 (66-over).
Auburn took home the first-place title with a score of 845 with TCU following closely behind with an 862. Texas came in third at 865.
Lizarazu left everything out on the course Sunday.
She tallied 4 birdies on the front nine to give her a 3-over-par finish in the third round of the tournament on Sunday.
The freshman also registered a season-best 18-hole score of 70 (1-under) in the first round.
Lizarazu has been a major asset to the team this fall for Iowa. She has made the lineup for every single tournament during the fall slate, and she has shown up in a big way.
Another young member of the team, sophomore Brett Permann, made the leaderboard. Permann tied for 63rd place with a 230. But it took some hard work to get there.
After recording three birdies in the third round to give her a 1-over-par finish, she jumped seven spots on the leaderboard. This was Permann’s third tournament this fall.
Sophomore Sophie Liu came in tied for 69th.
Liu struggled during the first half of the tournament but bounced back during the third round. Similar to Permann, Liu shot a season-best 72 on Sunday to climb 10 spots. But because of her struggles early on, Liu’s final score ended up becoming her career-low 54-hole score of 231.
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Sophomore Stephanie Herzog tied for 86th overall with a final score of 240.
Senior Shawn Rennegarbe placed the lowest with a score of 247 (34-over) this fall slate, putting her in 90th.
Rennegarbe, who had a strong fall season, struggled, which seemed to be a common theme.
The Hawkeyes will head back to Iowa City and start prepping for the spring slate, which will open at Peoria, Arizona, on Feb. 24-25 at the Westbrook Spring Invitational, hosted by Wisconsin.
Overall, the fall slate gave a glimpse of the talent that Iowa has.
There was a common theme to see younger players making strides toward success and getting experience.
The Hawkeyes definitely showed progress as a team. Many players demonstrated what they were capable of and the success that Iowa can have.
Eight golfers this fall season placed in the top 50 of each tournament — sophomore Annalee Dannegger, senior Kristin Glesne, freshman Dana Lerner, Herzog, Rennegarbe, Liu, Lizarazu, and Permann.
Iowa has variety and talent among its roster; it’s refreshing to see young golfers enjoying success.
