Following an eighth-place finish at the Fighting Irish Invitational on Oct. 6-7, the Iowa men’s golf team traveled to Mississippi for their final tournament of the fall season, competing in the 13-team Fallen Oak Collegiate Invitational.
The tournament, held from Oct. 19-21, was hosted by Mississippi State, Ole Miss, and Southern Miss, and featured some highly-ranked competition, including No. 21 Georgia, No. 13 Illinois, and No. 15 Louisiana State. Other teams competing included Purdue, South Carolina, and Nevada-Las Vegas.
The Hawkeyes were unable to recover from a slow start, finishing in 11th place. Ole Miss claimed the team title with an 844, 20 strokes under par and nine shots ahead of second place Illinois.
Jackson Buchannan of Illinois took home the individual crown by one stroke over Arni Sveinsson of LSU and Kye Meeks of Ole Miss.
Iowa took some time to adjust to the challenging landscape of Fallen Oak Golf Course, ending the first round in seventh place.
Second-year Noah Kent headed up the roster in 14th place after the first round of play, scoring even-par at 72. Right behind Kent was third-year Gage Messignham and first-year Ryan Shellberg, where each tied for 38th after shooting a 75.
Elsewhere, sixth-year Josh Lundmark tied for 52nd with a 76, while second-year Max Tjoa finished in 63rd after firing a 78.
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The Hawkeyes continued to struggle on day two, moving five spots down the standings to a dismal 12th place.
Despite the team’s rough showing, Kent continued to climb the leaderboard, ending in 10th place to close with a two-round score of 143. The rest of Iowa’s roster fell in the standings, with Messingham dropping to 41st, Shellberg to 61st, Lundmark to 71st, and Tjoa to 73rd.
The last round held on Monday featured some stiff competition for the Hawkeyes. Iowa climbed one spot in the leaderboard to finish in 11th place.
Kent ended the invitational with an impressive eighth-place finish, firing a 214 over the course of the weekend. Messingham scored a 221, earning him a tie for 34th place with Harrison Davis of Mississippi State, Carter Loflin of Georgia, and Nathan Franks of South Carolina.
Lundmark, Tjoa, and Shellberg each finished in the lower half of the leaderboard, but Lundmark finished his invitational on a positive note, tallying six birdies and scoring a 69, setting a new season-low.
Up Next
The completion of Fallen Oak Collegiate Invitational marks the end of Iowa’s fall 2024 schedule. The Hawkeyes will return to action in the spring, with the schedule being released at a later date.