The Idaho men’s golf team entered the final day of the Hawkeye Invitational in a three-way tie for sixth place after two rounds.
After the final 18 holes were completed, the Vandals earned a seventh place finish in the final regular season competition in Iowa City with a final score of 874.
Kansas collected a school-record fourth tournament title of the season with a score of 849.
Idaho head coach David Nuhn said the team played well during the first two rounds of competition.
“We had three guys play really solid golf Saturday,” Nuhn said. “We just need to find that fourth score for a solid finish amongst some the nation’s top teams.”
Idaho’s Ian Kim and Daniel Sutton were tied for 12th at 145 and Ryan Porch was tied for 18th at 146 after Saturday’s rounds.
Nuhn said the conditions were tough and the team needed to be prepared on what lies ahead.
“The tough conditions today proved a good test,” Nuhn said. “They needed to maintain focus all day out there because any misstep meant a very difficult par save.”
Sutton finished as the highest-scoring Vandal on Sunday, earning a three-way tied for 10th with Wichita State’s Grant Bennett and Iowa’s Carson Schaake. Sutton finished with a 70 and shot 2-under-par Sunday.
Porch gained two spots Sunday after shooting 1-under-par to end the day at 71.
Kim struggled on the final day of competition and dropped 15 spots in the standings, finishing in a three-way tie for 27th at 220.
Iowa State’s Ruben Sondjaja led the way, earning top honors in singles with a final score of 206 and a round-low 66 Sunday.
Schaake said the Hawkeyes had a nice showing in the team’s own tournament.
“Overall, it was a pretty good week,” Schaake said. “We made a lot of birdies but a couple of hiccups then and there took us out of the lead. We can still take a lot of positives going into the Big Ten Championships.”
Other Vandal finishers include Jake Scarrow, who gained jumped the highest in the standings Sunday after shooting a 2-under-par to conclude the final round with a score of 70. Scarrow finished in a six-way tie for 34th with a 222.
Enrique Martin was the final Vandal competitor with a 57th place finish.
The Big Sky Conference Championship is next on the schedule for the Vandals. The team travels to Henderson, Nevada to compete in the event from April 29 through May 1.
Luis Torres can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @TheLTFiles