Competing at the national level is a goal for most athletes, no matter the sport or circumstances. And for ISU club golfer Jeremy Mason, that dream became a reality.

Mason traveled to New Jersey last weekend to compete in the NCCGA National Championships, becoming the second ISU golfer to do so since the club started competing competitively.

“It was a great experience,” Mason said. “There was a lot of hype building up to it, and I don’t even think it’s hit me yet that I played at the national tournament. It was a lot of fun.”

Mason shot 78 and 79, respectively in the two-day tournament, accomplishing one of his goals of shooting below 80 each day. Mason finished tied for 44th place.

And for his first time at the meet, Mason feels pretty happy with where he ended up.

“For the most part, I think I played pretty well,” Mason said. “I only had three holes where I was combined seven over. So you take those three away and you’d see a difference in my score.”

Mason didn’t immediately qualify for the meet, however. After just missing qualifications at the regional tournament, Mason was placed on the alternate list.

When he finally got the call with the invitation to play at the national meet, Mason immediately said yes. But because he was an alternate, he felt he had more to prove.

“Out of the 200 or so kids there, being in the top 50 the first time is definitely good,” Mason said. “I think for the most part I proved myself, especially being an alternate. I think that gave me almost more motivation to play well, since I didn’t qualify at first.”

Mason’s talents haven’t just come to light in recent weeks. In the eyes of ISU golf club president Chase Russell, they’ve been there all year long.

“He started out really well this year, and was really consistent through our two regionals, so I was not surprised that he broke 80 both days,” Russell said. “He played very smart, being aggressive where he needed to, and conservative where he needed to. He was able to recover from mistakes, and that’s a sign of a very seasoned golfer.”

Mason, who is only a sophomore, is already looking forward to next club season. He hopes his experiences at nationals this year will play a big part in helping him to qualify again the next time around.

“It’s only going to help me,” Mason said. “There’s more opportunities for the team and me to make it to nationals. Playing in this big of a tournament, now that it’s over I know that I can play in that situation. Sometimes handling that pressure is the hardest part, and now that it’s over, I can kind of take a deep breath. If it happens again, I hope that I can be more relaxed and play better than I did.”

Qualifying as a team for the tournament is something that they hope to accomplish as well. And even though it is a younger team, Russell feels his group of guys has what it takes to get the job done.

“We’ve got a very solid core of golfers on our roster right now,” Russell said. “The number one thing we need to do to sustain our high level of competition is to keep that group together on the course, and then reload with new recruits. Iowa State is a big campus; there are a lot of golfers. It’s just about finding the right people.”