No rest for the weary
Durham. Dallas. Scottsdale. Atlanta. Baton Rouge.
These all sound like vacation destinations, but for the Iowa men's golf team they are weekends full of hard work.
No other team competes year-round as the golf team does. The season starts in September and lasts until May, though the majority of players spend their time competing in tournaments on their own during winter and summer breaks.
"We have a pretty good time when we travel," junior Barrett Kelpin said. "It's golf all day, and then by the end of the day, we just want to eat and go to bed."
Despite having little downtime and traveling across the country to compete, the Hawkeyes still had the highest GPA of any Hawkeye sports team, head coach Mark Hankins said.
The golfers recently earned All-Academic recognition from the Golf Coaches Association of America for having a team GPA of 3.32.
To keep their bodies in shape to withstand the rigors of competing all year, the golfers run daily with Hankins and perform core workouts.
"I feel like we're one of the better-conditioned teams," Kelpin said. "On the 36-hole days when you have to carry rain gear, an umbrella, food, and golf balls, the bag can get pretty heavy. So our conditioning helps us a lot."
During travel, the Hawkeyes will typically leave a day or two early and get some practice rounds in to prepare for the weekend competition.
Travel arrangements are made depending on the location of the tournament. If the Hawks are competing in the Midwest, they will ride in a customized bus. Otherwise, they will fly out of Cedar Rapids or Chicago.
When the team boards a plane to a tournament, there is always the added danger of every golfer's No. 1 fear: Lost bags.
"We make it pretty well-known that when our baggage goes, the most important thing is our golf clubs," Hankins said. "We can always buy new clothes, but we can't play without our clubs."
Sophomore Ryan Marks knows this well — his bags were lost on a trip to Michigan last season.
"It just adds a little bit of stress to the situation," he said.
Fortunately for the Hawkeyes, the team will drive to the first three tournaments, and much of their flying won't occur until later in the season.
While schools in the South are able to trek onto a course and swing the club almost any time, the situation is a bit different for the Hawkeyes. They are forced to find ways to deal with the cold and snow during the winter. The men train at facilities at Blue Top Ridge Golf Course in Riverside, and they also have access to the Bubble, which the football team also practices in.
Team members said they enjoy the shift to indoor golfing from November through February, when they don't have scheduled tournaments. This allows them to focus on their academics more.
"We're lucky we can go out to Blue Top and practice there twice a week," senior James Reiss said. "It's nice to have a little break and be able to work out harder."
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