After nearly two weeks off, the Iowa men’s golf team traveled to the All-American Intercollegiate in Houston. The two-day event was hosted by the University of Houston and featured 19 schools vying for the title.
Following a dreadful last-place finish at the Wake Forest Invitational, the Hawkeyes responded in the Lone Star State, finishing in seventh place at 19 strokes over par.
Fifth-year Mac McClear and third-year Ian Meyer led Iowa with a 218 — earning a tie for 14th place alongside Jacob Borow of Houston and Esteban Gonzalez of UT-Rio Grande Valley.
Texas Tech captured the team title by two strokes over Sam Houston State, while UNLV’s Yuki Moriyama took home the individual championship by a single stroke.
Day one
After some early momentum in the first round, the Hawkeyes floundered in the second, dropping 11 spots and finishing the day in 14th place. Iowa shot an overall team score of 599 — a disappointing 23 strokes over par.
“We started the day well, struggled through some of the holes into wind but then closed out the round strong,” Iowa head coach Tyler Stith said. “We compounded errors and made far too many big numbers.”
On a positive note, McClear posted a strong outing and concluded the day in a tie for 11th place with a 145 — good for only one stroke over par, including a two-under first round.
Along with McClear, first-year Noah Kent continues to show improvement. Though Kent ended the second round in a tie for 74th place, he was one of only six golfers in the field to score an eagle during the first two rounds.
Sam Houston State led the pack after the first day by four strokes over second-place UNLV. Moriyama of UNLV led the individual field after firing a four-under par on the day.
Day two
Following a shaky outing in the second round, Iowa entered the third round looking to rebound and finish the event on a high note.
Needless to say, it did just that.
The Hawkeyes posted a 284 — four strokes under par and the lowest team score of the round. The strong outing skyrocketed Iowa seven spots up the leaderboard to seventh place.
Meyer stole the show for the Hawkeyes with a 67 — five strokes under par and a new season-low for the Minnesota native. Meyer ended the tournament in a tie for 14th place with three other golfers, including fellow teammate McClear. It marked the second top-25 finish of the season for McClear, following a first place showing at the ANF Classic on Sept. 6.
Additionally, Kent shot three under par in the third round, vaulting him up 40 spots to a tie for 34th.
Up next
Iowa has two weeks off before returning to action from April 7-9 at the Calusa Cup in Naples, Florida. The Hawkeyes will serve as the host team for the event.
