Hawkeye men’s golf wraps up 2021-22 season at Big Ten Championships

Iowa’s three-round, 31-over-par total of 895 was 10 shots behind first-place Illinois.

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Katie Goodale for The Daily Iowa

Iowa’s Gonzalo Leal Montero swings during the third round of the Hawkeye Invitational at Finkbine Golf Course on Sunday, April 18, 2021. Iowa won the invitational 24 under par.

Chris Werner, Sports Reporter


The Iowa men’s golf team finished in seventh place at the 2022 Big Ten Tournament this weekend at the Pete Dye Course in French Lick, Indiana. 

The Hawkeyes’ three-round, 31-over-par total of 895 was 10 shots shy of the conference-title-winning Illinois Fighting Illini.

Junior Ronan Kleu led the way for the Hawkeyes, finishing in 12th place on the individual leaderboard. His tournament total of 6-over-par included rounds of 79, 69, and 74.

His second-round score of 3-under-par 69 included seven birdies — four of which came on the front nine. The 13 birdies Kleu carded in three rounds of action were tied for a tournament high.

After playing the first 12 holes of his second round in 7-under-par, Kleu finished the final six holes in 4-over par. 

“Ronan played a great round,” head coach Tyler Stith said in a release after the second round. “His talents were on display today. He’s been working hard and putting a lot of pressure on himself to perform. I’m happy for him to have a day like he did.”

Iowa’s second-round total of 293 was seven shots lower than the Hawkeyes’ first-round 300. On a tougher day conditions-wise, Stith’s bunch moved from 12th to ninth place on Saturday. 

“Today was more challenging for sure,” Stith said in a release. “The wind picked up quite a bit like it does out here. We played so much better today. The guys were ready to compete and fought hard.”

During the third and final round, Iowa moved up two spots with the best team round of the day. The total of 14-over-par 302 tied with Maryland for the low score of the final round. 

To close out his college career, senior Gonzalo Leal Montero tied for 14th as an individual. Leal Montero shot a 7-over-par 223 in 54 holes.

Junior Garrett Tighe finished the league tournament in a tie for 27th place. Tighe kicked off the first round for the Hawkeyes with a team-leading even-par 72. Tighe fired scores of 3-over-par 75 and 7-over-par 79 in the second and third rounds.

Sophomore Callum Macfie also competed for the Hawkeyes, tying for 61st place. 

Overall the Hawkeyes were third in the field with 40 total birdies. Iowa tallied 67 bogeys on the weekend. 

Seven of Iowa’s 15 combined team rounds included three or more birdies.