By Clark Cahill
clark-cahill@uiowa.edu
The Iowa men’s golf team shot the best round of the day in the final 18 holes of the Virginia Commonwealth Shootout to finish in a fourth-place tie with Virginia Tech and Penn State on Tuesday.
After finishing the first 36 holes tied for seventh place, the Hawkeyes shot five-over-par to finish with a total of 881 (17 over) — moving their streak of top five finishes to three in a row
“We accomplished out goal of finishing in the top five,” head coach Mark Hankins said. “But it was kind of bitter-sweet because we put ourselves in a hole the first round, and then came back and shot the lowest score in today’s round.”
North Carolina Wilmington won the tournament at eight-over-par, five strokes ahead of second place Virginia.
Junior Brad Hopfinger had a solid tournament, shooting even par in hi first two rounds, before finishing in a fourth place tie with six other competitors at 217 (1 over).
“I’m proud Brad had three solid rounds,” Hankins said. “He did a great job of staying in the present.”
The VCU Shootout marked the second tournament in a row where the Hawkeyes got a slow start on the first day before shooting one of the best rounds of the tournament on the final day.
Iowa started off poorly, finishing day one in a seventh-place tie in the 14-team field. The scenario mirrored the Hawkeyes’ first day of the Golden Gopher Invitational when they finished day one in a seventh-place tie before climbing up to fifth on the final day.
Hankins said he has enjoyed seeing the team improve with each round in the past few tournaments, but added it is frustrating to have a bad first round.
“It’s individual. They need to do a better job of getting mentally prepared for the first round so we can put ourselves in a position to win tournaments,” he said. “We showed we belong with today’s round, but we couldn’t climb out of the hole we dug ourselves against a good field. That is what happens when you compete against good teams.”
Sophomore Barrett Kelpin shot the best round of any Hawkeye Tuesday afternoon after holing three birdies to go one-under-par on the day. The Kalamazoo, Mich., native finished the tournament tied for 20th with a score of 220.
Sophomore Chris Brant shot two-over-par on Tuesday en route to a 30th-place tie at 222.
Junior Vince India, who placed fourth individually in the Golden Gopher Classic Sept. 15, struggled with five double-bogeys throughout the tournament, but made up for some of the ground with nine birdies. The Deerfield, Ill., native finished tied for 45th at 226.
Sophomore Brad George finished one stroke behind India at 227 to land him in a 47th place tie.
The Hawkeyes head to South Bend Indiana for the Fighting Irish Golf Classic Oct. 5 through 6.
“I think with every tournament we have gotten better,” Hankins said. “We just need to keep building and find a way to put together a solid first round to give ourselves a chance to win.”
