During the off-season, coaches Andrew Tank and Patrick Datz and the players of the ISU men’s golf team have grown closer. Through daily workouts and working on their strokes, they have developed an important asset — being comfortable with each other.

Tank and Datz used this off-season to go over everything from the players’ putting strokes to their physical screening to see where each player was at in his game.

The players’ big focus this off-season was taking a break away from the game and getting caught up with their school work. Datz said they focused on flexibility and weight training mostly. After a long layoff, he also thinks the players are excited getting antsy.

“I think they might be getting a little cabin fever hitting indoors,” Datz said. “They just want to start playing and competing again, and show that they’ve improved in the off-season.”

Last semester was both coaches’ first with the program and players. They seem to be finding their niche with the players, and now have the ability to go even further in depth with how they can help the players with both their physical play and mentality.

“I feel like our comfort level and trust is being built up between us and the players,” Tank said. “It’s a two-way thing, and I’ve noticed that just in the first few weeks of the semester.”

Communication is a big part of golf and more one-on-one than other sports. In golf it’s the coach and the player working on that individual’s game, rather than the coach speaking to the team in a huddle.

“The better the communication, the better the results,” Tank said.

Although the theme for Cyclones during the fall season was inconsistency, there were bright spots. At the VCU Shootout, junior Nate McCoy took medalist honors, then at the D.A. Weibring Intercollegiate, the Cyclones came in second, powered by two top-five finishes from McCoy and sophomore Borja Virto.

Along with that, Nathan Leary, Jacob Aaholm and Michael Wuertz finished in the top 10 as well for Iowa State.

As for the last two tournaments of the fall season, the Cyclones struggled. At the Firestone Invitational the Cyclones managed a seventh place finish and then at the last tournament of the fall season, Iowa State shot a near season-high 901, landing them in ninth place.

Tank said a weakness for the team this fall was handling the tough days. On days when they would were struggling, they’d shoot something like a 78, rather than a 74.

“We’ve got to get over that hump of getting everyone to perform their best each week,” Tank said, “and not have any let-downs.”

The ISU men’s golf team is starting the spring season ranked No. 88 nationally by Golfweek. Their first event is the Big Four Match in Phoenix. The Cyclones will be taking on their in-state rivals in Northern Iowa, Drake, and No. 11 Iowa.  

“I just want to gradually build throughout the spring,” Tank said, “so that our guys are playing their best at the end of April when we go to the Big 12 Championships.”