With the Big 12 Championships and qualifying for NCAA Regionals right around the corner, the ISU men’s golf team is ready to turn things around.

“I certainly think we have the capability to [qualify for regionals] and we’re in a good position after the fall season to do that,” said ISU coach Andrew Tank. “I think we can if we play like we’re capable of playing these last four events.” 

During the fall season, the Cyclones finished fourth or better in four of their five tournaments. 

In two of those tournaments, the team had one golfer win. Nate McCoy ran away with the Ress Jones Invite with a score of 210, which was nine strokes better than the runner-up.

In the VCU Shootout, Scott Fernandez took medalist honors. The Spain native edged the runner-up by one stroke with a score of 205. The fall season was some of the best golf Iowa State had seen in a while.  

“Each of our finishes got better as the fall went on and we won our last tournament,” Tank said. “We kind of finished on a high note there and we kept improving, which was nice.”

In the first two meets of the spring season, the Cyclones have finished 12th both times, once out of a field of 15 and the other out of 24. In those two tournaments, the team averaged just less than 76 strokes per round. 

“I think it’s just been poor execution and making bad decisions on the course,” McCoy said. “You’re coming out of winter and you haven’t played a lot of tournament golf, so you forget to make smart decisions sometimes.” 

In the tournaments in the fall where Iowa State finished no worse than fourth in all but one tournament and had two medalist performances, the golfers averaged 72 strokes per round. 

With seven of the nine golfers on the roster being underclassmen, there has been a lot of teaching this year. Tank said they have made a lot of big steps for a young team.

“It’s been fun. Everybody’s got a great attitude,” Tank said. “There’s been a lot of excitement, everyone’s eager to learn and figure out what college golf is all about.”

McCoy, Iowa State’s lone senior, also knows he has a short time to not only turn things around in time for the Big 12s, but also before he graduates this May. 

“It’s weird thinking that this is my last go-around,” McCoy said. “Especially because the guys are great and it’s weird because you know you’re going to leave them. It’s definitely setting in a little bit.”

With coaches Tank and Patrick Datz now in their second year, McCoy is the only player they’ve had a chance to work with for more than a year before he graduates. 

They didn’t hesitate when asked about what he means to the team and the program in general.

“Obviously you hate to see him go because he’s an important part of our program,” Datz said. “I think he’s been really instrumental, especially with all of our young guys, leading by example. When [we coaches] aren’t around, he really embraces that leadership role.”

The team is ready to move forward and hit its stride in the coming tournaments before Big 12s and the coaches are ready to push them.

“We put ourselves in a nice spot ending the fall and we haven’t got off to the best start this spring, but we’re still in a position to make regionals,” Datz said. “If you can get to regionals and get hot, then you’re right there in nationals, so I think just getting there is what you need to do.”