ISU men’s golf coach Andrew Tank was pleased with his team’s performance Tuesday at the UTSA Oak Ridge Invitational, but he wasn’t so pleased with their performance Monday.

“I wouldn’t say there was anything that was really good,” Tank said of the first two rounds. “Just poor execution in all parts of the game.”

The Cyclones struggled to find consistency again this season en route to a 10th-place finish in San Antonio. Monday’s rounds of 304 and 303 were the fourth- and sixth-worst 18-hole team scores the men have played this season.

Sophomore Scott Fernandez was again the leading man for Iowa State, finishing third individually. Sam Daley, Collin Foster and Duncan Croudis, all contributing scorers, had a 77.5 stroke average through the first two rounds. The team’s season average is 76.0.

“We are capable of a lot more than we showed in those first two rounds.” Tank said. 

History also shows the Cyclones are capable. The team finished in the top half of meets twice this fall season, most recently at the Bridgestone Collegiate, where the team placed third.

The team that played Monday looked nothing like it did then.

“Our goal [Tuesday] was to go out there and have the lowest final round and try to just completely forget about [Monday],” Tank said.

The Cyclones seemed to do just that, with every golfer hitting their best round of the meet. Daley, Foster and Croudis all shaved at least two strokes off their best Monday scores.

The only constant in all three rounds was Fernandez, who had a season-low score of 211 (72-70-69). During the fall season he made a name for himself, finishing in the top three in each tournament in which he played. He has now extended that streak to four.

Fernandez is currently ranked No. 9 individually in the nation by Golfweek and No. 11 by Golfstat, but he said it’s not as much of a distraction as most people would think.

“I’m excited for it and I’ll try my best to keep that going, but when I’m on the course it’s just a different mindset,” Fernandez said. “I just go out there and play.”

The golf team will travel to Phoenix on Feb. 16 to meet Iowa’s three other major golf programs — Iowa, Northern Iowa and Drake — in the Big Four Match.