The Iowa men’s golf team opened up its spring season with an eighth place finish at the Puerto Rico Classic in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Feb 11-13. The three-day event was hosted by Purdue and featured 15 teams vying for the title. 

First-year Noah Kent turned in a sensational outing by shooting a team-high 14 under par during the event. His efforts earned him a tie for third place. 

Georgia took the lead on day two and never relinquished it, defeating Virginia by three strokes to win the tournament.

Day one 

The Hawkeyes jumped out to a nice start in round one and ended the day in third place with a team score of 274 – good for 14 strokes under par and only three strokes behind first place North Florida.

Kent led the entire field with a bogey-free score of 63, marking the second-lowest round in program history. Kent also had a tournament-high nine birdies on the day.

Second-year Hogan Hansen and fifth-year Josh Lundmark also chipped in solid performances for Iowa. Hansen shot three under par, while Lundmark shot two under par.

After day one, North Florida led the field with a 271, while Tennessee was close behind with 273. 

Day two 

Iowa continued its stellar performance into the next round but found itself slipping to eighth place due to standout play from Georgia and Purdue. 

Despite dropping five spots, the Hawkeyes ended the day with a score of 284 – 18 strokes under par and three strokes from the top five. 

Kent continued his momentum from the first round and shot two under par in the second – leaving him just a single stroke out of the tournament lead.

Hansen picked up right where he left off the day before and went three under par in the round to earn him a top-20 finish heading into the final day. 

Third-year Ian Meyer earned six birdies while shooting three under par in the round. 

Following a fourth place finish on day one, Georgia bolted up the leaderboard with a 268 and grabbed a two-stroke lead over North Florida heading into the third round. 

Day three 

Though the Hawkeyes continued their consistent play into the final round, it seemed like the rest of the field was a touch better. Iowa finished day three with a 281 – good for 25 strokes under par but not enough to move out of eighth place. 

Kent finished under par in every single round of the tournament and led the field with 20 birdies. 

Hansen and Lundmark finished in a tie for 37th place, with Lundmark going two under par to close out the tournament.  

Fifth-year Mac McClear had his best outing on day three of the event and turned in a scorecard of 69 – moving him up 10 spots on the leaderboard. 

Despite not gaining any ground in the standings, the Hawkeyes finished ahead of conference rivals Ohio State, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. 

“Better performance today from the guys. We got it to -10 under with four or five holes remaining but dropped a few coming in. We’re happy to beat two top-25 teams, but we missed a chance to beat a few more. Overall, it was a solid performance to begin the spring,” head coach Tyler Stith told Hawkeye Sports. 

Women tie for eighth place at Paradise Invitational 

The Iowa women’s team opened its season with an eighth place tie at the two-day FAU Paradise Invitational in Boca Raton, Florida, on Feb 5-6. South Florida captured first place after shooting seven under par — the only team in the field to finish below par. 

Iowa struggled with consistency issues throughout the event and shot a 885 – a whopping 21 strokes over par. 

Despite the frustrating outing, second-year Kaitlyn Hanna led the team with a scorecard of 217 – good for one over par and a 12th place finish. 

Up next 

Iowa will have nearly a month off before returning to the links. The Hawkeyes will make the trek east to Pinehurst, North Carolina, on March 4-5 for the Wake Forest Invitational. It will be the second event on the calendar hosted by Wake Forest, as the Hawkeyes played in the Chicago Highlands Collegiate in September 2023.  

The women’s team will have a few weeks off to regroup, returning to action on Feb. 25-26 at the Westbrook Spring Invitational in Peoria, Arizona. The event will be hosted by Wisconsin.