Iowa City Today

The University of Iowa men’s golf team will compete in the Highlands Invitational, scheduled for September 15-16 at Chicago Highlands Club in Chicago, Illinois. The event will feature 13 schools, including Virginia Commonwealth, UTSA, Yale, Loyola Chicago, East Tennessee State, Louisiana, Wake Forest (the host), Louisiana Tech, Davidson, Coastal Carolina, DePaul, Eastern Michigan and Iowa.

The tournament consists of 54 holes played over two days. The starting time has not yet been announced. Live scoring is available through scoreboard.clippd.com and can be accessed via the men's golf schedule page on hawkeyesports.com.

Chicago Highlands Club spans 7,490 yards and is recognized as the top-ranked golf course in Illinois and ninth nationally by GolfDigest. The publication also highlighted hole nine as one of America’s best-designed holes. Designed by Arthur Hills—who created more than 200 courses—the venue offers a links-style layout with views of the Chicago skyline.

Iowa last competed in this invitational in 2023 when Wake Forest hosted its inaugural edition.

In their season debut at the Visit Knoxville Collegiate tournament earlier this fall, Iowa shot a second-round score of 276—marking the 14th-best round in school history. Max Tjoa tied for tenth overall with fourteen birdies (third-most among all players) and finished two-under on par fours (eighth best). He also matched his career-low three-round total with a score of 208 and recorded his second-best single round at 67. Gage Messingham equaled his career-low round with a 67 during round two. Bennett Warren and Grant Gudgel made their Hawkeye debuts at the event.

Looking back at last season under Coach Tyler Stith’s guidance, Iowa participated in eleven tournaments across eight states—including an international trip—and achieved three top-five finishes: third place at both the Purdue Fall Invitational and Hawkeye Invitational. At the latter event, they set program records for lowest team second-round score (275) and lowest three-round total (857). Individually, Max Tjoa posted a personal-best round of 66 to rank twentieth on Iowa’s all-time list; Gage Messingham also registered career-best performances. The team finished fourth at the Gopher Invitational and eighth at the Fighting Irish Classic while posting the highest GPA among all Iowa men’s athletic programs.

This year’s roster features returning letter winners Max Tjoa—whose season average placed him twenty-sixth all-time—Gage Messingham (eleventh all-time average), Chance Rinkol (named Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree), Ryan Shellberg (six tournament starts), along with Jack McCarty who redshirted last year.

Newcomers include Grant Gudgel—a former Oklahoma State redshirt who won an Oklahoma state individual title—and freshman Bennett Warren from Kansas who was ranked No. 60 nationally according to Junior Golf Scoreboard rankings.

Finkbine Golf Course—the home facility for both Iowa men’s and women’s teams—is set to undergo major renovations after this season. Led by architect Scott Hoffman and managed by Troon with private funding from Fritz and Mary Lee Duda, upgrades aim to modernize its design while enhancing playability and sustainability practices.

Following the Highlands Invitational, Iowa will travel to South Bend for the Fighting Irish Classic October 6-7.