As the last regular season meet approaches, it’s now-or-never time. The ISU men’s golf team will be headed to Iowa City this weekend — rain, sleet or snow — for the Hawkeye-TaylorMade Invitational at Finkbine Golf Course.

In Iowa City, the Cyclones will not only be taking on in-state rival No. 14 Iowa, but they will also be competing with Big 12 schools such as Kansas, Kansas State, Nebraska and Missouri. Also in the mix is No. 37 North Texas. Iowa State’s rank has dropped in the past three weeks from No. 88 to No. 102.

This week for practice, the team, minus junior Nate McCoy, has been qualifying for the final four spots to go to Iowa City. Last week the coaches tried to mix things up by replacing Michael Wuertz and Jacob Aaholm with Nathan Leary and Josh Bruder.

“We’re using this time to qualify during practice,” said assistant coach Patrick Datz. “We want to see the guys battle for a spot.”

Both golfers finished near the middle of the pack, with Bruder tying for 37th, and Leary, two strokes behind, tying for 43rd. McCoy is exempt from qualifying this week because he finished the past meet in fourth place, only three strokes behind the leader.

After Wednesday’s qualifying event, the golfers that will head to Iowa City are Nate McCoy, Borja Virto, Josh Bruder and Nathan Leary. The coaches decided to go with four golfers rather than five because it was “the best decision for the long-term improvement of the team,” Datz said.

During qualifying Wednesday, it was great weather — hardly any wind, and around 70 degrees. This weekend at Iowa City, the forecast is rain, wind and a high near 50.

“That’s the advantage we have playing in Ames,” Datz said. “We’ve all played in weather like that, so we’re ready.”

The weather is one thing that no golfer can control. Another thing Datz mentioned was noise from another fairway during qualifying. They know they can’t control everything. Instead, the team is focused on what it can control — the way they handle the adversity.

“We’re focused on what we want to do with each shot,” Datz said, “rather than the external things that we can’t control.”

Since this is the last meet of the season, the coaches want improvement. They’re hoping this will be the meet that could get some momentum going into the Big 12 Championship Meet.

“Everyone’s got to look at themselves in the mirror,” Datz said, “and ask, ‘Did I do everything I could today to become better?'”

The Hawkeye-TaylorMade Invitational will be the last regular season meet for the Cyclones. After this, they will be headed to compete in the Big 12 Championships on April 25-27.