Naples, Fla. – The University of Iowa men’s golf team concluded the final round of the Calusa Cup on Tuesday afternoon at Calusa Pines Golf Club. The Hawkeyes finished 7th as a team, just five shots off 5th place. Iowa was 28-over par (293/298/301 = 892) after 56-holes. Freshman Noah Kent was the low scorer for Iowa at 2-over par (71/73/74) tying for 9th.

Kent shot 2-over (38) on the front nine before carding 36 (E) on the back nine for a final round 74 (+2). Kent eagled a par five with a putt that came from off the green. Just 10 players eagled throughout the tournament.

Senior Mac McClear tied Kent for the low round of the day at 2-over. McClear had three birdies in the final round, tying sophomore Hogan Hansen and freshman Max Tjoa, for a team high. McClear finished the tournament at 8-over par to tie for 22nd.

Junior Ian Meyer placed 26th at 9-over par.

Florida won the tournament at 3-under par. Scotty Kennon of Wake Forest won the individual medalist at 6-under par.

HAWKEYE NOTABLES

Iowa led the field with 162 pars as a team.
Noah Kent was one of 10 players to record an eagle.
Kent led the field in pars with 39.
Kent’s par four average of 4.03 (+1) tied for fifth in the field.

UP NEXT

The Hawkeyes return to Iowa City where they host the Hawkeye Invitational at Finkbine Golf Course April 13-14.

The Council of Presidents of the colleges and universities of the N-A-I-A has voted unanimously to ban transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports competitions. Corey Westra is the commissioner of the Great Plains Athletic Conference, which includes Iowa N-A-I-A schools Morningside, Briar Cliff and Dordt Universities, along with Northwestern College. He says the decision was made after a lot of examination.

(as said)”Two years of work in study group at our Council of Presidents level in the N-A-I-A. Our National Council of Presidents is our governing body,” Westra says. Westra has been the co-director of the N-A-I-A national tournaments for women’s basketball and volleyball that have been held in Sioux City the last several years.

(as said)”When you look at the N-A-I-A as a whole, you know, it’s a decision that’s about fairness in competition and this is an organization the N-A-I-A that has been committed and worked very, very hard to promote and grow women’s sports,” Westra says. “That goes back over 40 years back to Title Nine, the N-A-I-A was at the forefront of having women’s sports and having a championship opportunity for women’s sports.” Westra says the new policy expands to cover regular season sports.

(as said)”The prior policy only dealt in championship competition and it wasn’t encompassing of maybe where we are today on this particular issue of transgender athletes participating,” he says. Westra says he supports the decision as a lot of though went into it.

(as said)”It’s a decision that was wise. It was a decision that I think was done with tremendous deliberation,” he says, “this was not a ‘hey we’re gonna just throw something on the table and vote on it,’ not at all. I think you can look at it from many angles, and at the end of the day, I think it’s better to have a clear policy than to not.” The policy takes effect with the start of the 2024-2025 fall ports season in August.

New Drake basketball coach Ben McCollum hopes to take the program to the next level. After 15 years and four division-two national championships at Northwest Missouri State the Storm Lake native takes over a Bulldog program that enjoyed six straight seasons of 20-wins or more and three trips to the NCAA Tournament under former coach Darian DeVries.

McCollum hopes to build on the success enjoyed under DeVries.

McCollum interviewed for the Drake job six years ago when DeVries was hired.

McCollum feels the Drake job was the right fit for him and his family.

McCollum’s first chore is to rebuild the roster. More than a half dozen players from last year’s team are in the transfer portal.

McCollum on the challenge of moving to division one.

McCollum hopes to have his staff in place in about a week.

Iowa corner Deshaun Lee hopes the experience he gained last season helps take his game to another level. Lee was inserted into the lineup due to an injury and started six games as a red shirt freshman.

Lee says the focus during spring drill is about skill development.

Lee says Iowa’s offense under new offensive coordinator Tim Lester looks a lot different.

The Hawkeyes close out spring drills with an open practice on April 20th.