This season, the ISU women’s golf team will have to find a way to seek the improvement it needs after the departure of last year’s senior leader Punpaka Phuntumabamrung.

The Cyclones are coming off of a season where they went to their fourth consecutive NCAA regional competition.

“The team is going to work really hard,” said ISU coach Christie Martens. “We want to get better than we are now and improve by May.”

Seniors Sasikarn On-iam and Prima Thammaraks represent two of the three seniors on this year’s roster. On-iam and Thammaraks have been in the lineup before and will contribute to the team’s leadership.

“Anyone can lead our team,” Martens said.

This season’s team will mesh their leadership with the new talent from the addition of two freshmen.

“The three seniors will teach what we know, and we can learn from [the freshmen], too,” On-iam said.

Expectations are high this season after making the NCAA regionals and finishing third at the Big 12 Championships last year — its best-ever finish at Big 12’s. But even with the recent success, the women golfers just want to continue to improve as a team as well as individually.

Some of Thammaraks’ goals include going to nationals and winning some tournaments as an individual. A goal for On-iam is to win every tournament as a team.

“We’re going to go out there and do our best,” Thammaraks said. “I think we have the potential to be one of the best teams in the country.”

The Cyclones began practicing at The Harvester Golf Club in Rhodes, Iowa. Conditions have been hot and windy, but the players relish the opportunity to get back out on the golf course.

On-iam said each player had a green to themselves, which allowed everyone to work on all of their skills.

“It felt so good to get started,” Thammaraks said. “I think we all feel really ready to get going.”

The women’s team will appear on Friday, Sept. 20, in The Dick McGuire/Branch Law Firm Invite in Albuquerque, N.M., for its first tournament of the season.