The 2012-13 ISU men’s golf team featured strong individual finishes, roller-coaster performances and inconsistent depth. That script played out almost exactly as it had all season at the Big 12 Championships on April 22-24, 2013.

The league tournament featured a seventh-place finish by Scott Fernandez as well as the worst individual performance of the meet. Some would say the script was followed to perfection.

However, it was a script the Cyclones were trying to rewrite at the Big 12 tournament, but to no avail. The team finished last in the nine-team field to effectively end their season with no projected invitation to the NCAA Regionals in sight.

“We’ve lacked that depth this year, and that caught up to us in the first and third rounds,” said coach Andrew Tank. “Depth and consistency are really the two words that are on my mind.”

Both words have been brought up numerous times throughout the season by coaches and players alike. Even in the team’s best performances, there were noticeable hiccups along the way.

The production drop-off behind the team’s No. 1 golfer, Scott Fernandez, is drastic. Fernandez averaged 71.11 strokes per round, one of the best averages in the nation, but the Cyclones’ next-best golfer shot almost four strokes higher on average.

The Big 12 tournament was much of the same, with Fernandez averaging 72.33 strokes to the rest of the team’s 76.33 stroke average. Both Duncan Croudis and Collin Foster finished in the bottom-three spots individually.

Fernandez, however, was contending for the title yet again. While taking medalist honors became less and less likely when play was shortened a day due to weather, Fernandez hoped to make a run for higher positions.

“I felt like I could move a couple more spots on the last day, but yeah, I’m pretty happy,” Fernandez said. “Finishing top-10 is always great.”

The top-10 performance puts Fernandez in very comfortable positioning for a spot in the NCAA individual tournament. Selections will be announced May 6.

The team is not expected to receive an invitation to the NCAA Regionals after an overall sub-par season. Last season, the Cyclones made it to their first NCAA Regional since 1999.

With the season wrapping up for most of the team, Tank expects this summer to be a building period as players compete in amateur tournaments and new recruits get ready to step on campus.

“We will have some individual meetings next week,” Tank said. “I’m just going to be looking forward to this summer and next year and trying to give them my feedback on what they need to do to get better.”

The Cyclones will have an opportunity to redeem themselves next season as the entire young Cyclone squad will be out on the course next fall. With leaders like Fernandez, the team has a chance to become the program Tank envisioned coming into Iowa State.

“When you get beat, you learn things, and we just need to make the most out of those lessons and come back stronger from it in the fall,” Tank said.