The ISU men’s golf team said it can beat any team in the nation and last week at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational it proved it, finishing clustered with some of the nation’s golf powerhouses.

But there is one team Iowa State has struggled to beat since Andrew Tank and Patrick Datz took over the program in 2010: Iowa.

The in-state rivalry started off well for the new coaches, beating the Hawkeyes in the Big Four Match on Feb. 5, 2011. Since then, the Cyclones have gone 0-4 in the rivalry.

“Last year, we came really close to beating them over at this tournament in Iowa City, came up just a few shots short,” Tank said. “They’ve got a good team and beat us pretty handily at the Big Four Match this year.

“[Revenge] is not our primary focus, but it’s certainly kind of a fun element.”

Blake Waller is the only current ISU golfer that was around when the team defeated the Hawkeyes more than two years ago. However, he was just a name on the roster, never playing a single round his freshman year.

This year, the team is looking for a change.

“I think the pressure is really on Iowa,” said assistant coach Patrick Datz. “I think they are the highest-ranked team in the field and it’s their home course. I think if we just come in guns blazing and just expect to do well and take care of business, then we will win.”

There will be no clear favorite team to win the 20th annual Hawkeye-Great River Entertainment Invitational, with five teams ranked between No. 59 to No. 96 in Golfweek.com’s rankings. However, Iowa State has the strongest weapon.

According to the Golfstat Cup Standings, Scott Fernandez is ranked No. 5 nationally. The next-best player in the field in Iowa City, Iowa, will be Iowa’s Steven Ihm at No. 122.

Fernandez is coming off a second-place finish in Arizona against some of the best competition in the nation, beating the nation’s No. 1 player, Michael Kim of California, by nine strokes. Fernandez knows what he is capable of and has no shortage of confidence going into the tournament.

“My expectation is to win every tournament I play,” Fernandez said. “But to be realistic, getting top 5 is really exciting for me.”

But even with Fernandez playing some of the best golf in the nation, Iowa State has struggled to finish at the top of the leaderboards. The team has only finished in the top 3 once this season and has finished in the bottom half of the field four times in nine tournaments.

The Cyclones are hoping not to get too comfortable, as this is the last regular season tournament before playing in the Big 12 Championships. Tank stressed that as the end of the season nears, focus needs to increase.

“I’d really like to see everybody raise their expectations up and not be comfortable with just finishing seventh,” Tank said of last week’s finish. “We’re going to try to take that mindset to Iowa City this week, that we are over there to play great. I think we have the talent that if we do play great, we do have a chance to win.”

The tournament will start with two rounds on April 13, 2013 with tee-off starting at 9 a.m. The final round will be played April 14.