After two rounds of action, the Iowa women’s golf team sits in second place behind Montana State in the Diane Thomason Invitational at Finkbine Golf Course in Iowa City.
The first round of the tournament was headlined by third-year Ximena Benites, who shot a two-under par of 70 that included an impressive 33 on the front nine.
Behind Benites were third-year Maura Peters and first-year Sunny Wang who both carded a 75 in the first round. Fourth-year Shannyn Vogler and fourth-year Riley Lewis both scored a 76 to round out the starting five.
As the host team, all nine of Iowa’s players participated, with four of them playing as individuals.
Fourth-year Kaitlyn Hanna led the individuals with a score of 75 and fourth-year Adie Maki followed with a 77. First-year Cailyn Rogers made her Hawkeye debut as an individual and scored a 77. Second-year Lilly Heuther shot an 82 to close out round one for the Hawkeyes.
Second round
The second round of the tournament was played just an hour after the first round on an unusually warm late September day in Iowa City.
Shannon Vogler led Iowa in round two with an even 72 that included a pair of birdies on the back nine. Peters followed one stroke behind at 73 after birdying holes two and three. Riley Lewis shot a 78 while Benites and Wang both carded an 80 to finish out the starting five.
The individuals were led by a bounce back performance from Heuther, who slotted in a 76. Hanna shot a 79, while Maki and Rogers both scored an 83 to close the first day of the Diane Thomason Invitational.
“All in all playing at our home course I don’t think any one is super satisfied with our performance today,” Maura Peters said. “We all have high expectations for tomorrow.”
Even though the Hawkeyes enjoyed the friendly confines of their home course, Finkbine Golf Course is still challenging no matter how many times they’ve played it.
“I feel like you never get to know Finkbine that well because there are a lot of spots that can give you issues,” Ximena Benites said. “For example, the pin on 14 today was challenging because if you went long you were basically dead.”
“Whenever we play this golf course it always feels like you find a spot you’ve never been in before,” Peters said. “The greens make it really difficult because we know what spots we shouldn’t be in but we still find ourselves in them.”
Though Iowa trails by just one spot on the leaderboard, Peters and Benites say it will take a full team effort in order to become back-to-back tournament champions.
“Something we do is meet as a team and reflect on the round and go over our team standards,” Peters said. “If we could go out there and find some comfort in playing at home I think we’ll be in a good place.”
“Definitely reflecting all together as a team because we’re all there for each other will help,” Benites said. “Look for things you need to get better at, prepare for tomorrow, and sleep.”
Up next
The Hawkeyes will look to overcome a six-stroke deficit to become champions of the Diane Thomason Invitational tomorrow. The final round begins with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m.