Second-place team finish puts Iowa women’s golf back on track
Three Hawkeye players finished in the top 10 individually at the BYU Spring Classic.
Iowa head coach Megan Menzel talks to Manuela Lizarazu during the Diane Thomason Invitational at Finkbine Golf Course on September 30th, 2018.The Hawkeyes placed 1st overall.
March 18, 2021
Iowa head women’s golf coach Megan Menzel said that she has already put a spring tournament hosted by BYU on next year’s schedule.
Following the Hawkeyes’ runner-up finish at the BYU Spring Invite on Monday — after finishing second at the 2019 Entrada classic, also hosted by BYU — the team will be returning in 2022.
In this year’s weather-shortened tournament, three top ten finishers including a second-place showing from sophomore Jacque Galloway, lead Iowa to a team total of 284, three shots behind the victorious Texas Tech Red Raiders.
On the individual leaderboard, Galloway finished at two-under-par, two shots behind winner Victoria Galley of Nevada. They were the only two players to finish the two rounds under par.
Following a two-under-par round of 70 in round one, consisting of five birdies and three bogeys, Galloway ended the even with an even-par round of 72.
“I putted uncharacteristically well for me,” Galloway said. “Typically, it’s not exactly a strong suit of mine, but I just felt really comfortable on the greens. It all kind of came together for me.”
Galloway, a native of New Mexico, also said the course reminded her of some of the tracks she plays back home.
Morgan Goldstein, who finished tied for ninth individually, is also used to playing on courses similar to the one In Utah as she grew up in Nevada.
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The impressive team performance, where the top-three Iowa finishers — Galloway, Klara Wildhaber (T-6), and Goldstein, tallied a combined 29 birdies — comes on the heels of the team’s worst outing of 2021. At the Wildcat Invitational, on March 8-9, the Hawkeyes finish 16th out of 16 teams and had no individual finishers inside the top-30.
“We had some outside distractions [in Arizona] and we didn’t handle it very well,” Menzel said. “We had a lot of good conversations and good practice plans. We tried to motivate them with some of their stats and history as Hawkeyes and what this team’s capable of doing and I think they all took it to heart and did some really good things.”
Galloway’s runner-up spot is her best finish as a Hawkeye. Her previous best was a tie for fifth in last season’s Utah event.
“Jacque’s a great ball striker,” Menzel said. “She’s one of our best gritty competitors. She loves to compete — she’s all-in each and every round.”
In her first tournament action of the season, junior Manuela Lizarazu joined her teammates in the top-20 posted a tie for 16th place with a two-round total of +5.
Iowa will tee it up next at the Chattanooga Classic in Tennessee on March 29.
