The Iowa women’s golf team closed out the fall slate at the Hurricane Invitational Tournament. The three-round event took place at the Biltmore Golf Course in Coral Gables, Florida on October 28-29.

The tournament featured teams such as South Alabama, Florida International, North Florida, Florida Gulf Coast, Big Ten rival Nebraska, and host school Miami competing for the title.

The Hawkeyes finished in fourth place out of 11 teams, marking Iowa’s second straight top-five finish and second-best finish of the season behind a championship victory at the Dianne Thomason Invitational September 30-October 1. The Hawkeyes have placed in the top 10 in each of their four tournaments this season.

Sophomore Ximena Benites led the way for the Hawkeyes, with a total score of 215, one shot under par, putting her in a tie for fourth place with Miami’s Rebekah Gardner. Sophomore Maura Peters earned a career-best invitational score of 206, placing her in 22nd place and marking her second-best result of the season.

Benites recovered from a rough start to the first round where she shot a measly five shots over par. The sophomore bounced back after that, shooting a 69 in the second and third rounds to secure her first top five of the season.

Elsewhere, third-year Riley Lewis recorded a 223 to finish tied for 29th, fellow third-year Shannyn Volger landed in a tie for 34th and fourth-year Paula Miranda tallied a disappointing 225 to close out tied for 38th place.

“It was great to see three consistent rounds this week,” Iowa head coach Megan Menzel told Hawkeye Sports. Ximena and Maura both recorded personal bests as Hawkeyes and it was a strong team effort. The team has put in a lot of work this fall and we all look forward to a productive offseason and strong spring.

Miami won the team title, shooting a 12-under-par 852, including an impressive 10-under in the final round. Olivia Gronborg took the individual crown, finishing with an eight-under par of 208 and completing a flawless two-championship draw for the Hurricanes.

Following

This concludes the fall season for Iowa. They will return to action Jan. 31 in Guadalajara, Mexico, for the Collegiate Invitational, hosted by the Virginia Cavaliers.