Most teams would see a break in their schedule as a positive. After its best fall season in school history, however, the men’s golf team felt its momentum disappear before the spring season arrived.

As a result, the team now shares a common goal for the 2007 season – consistency.

“I would like to see this year’s team sustain their momentum from the fall to the spring,” said head coach Jay Horton. “I know it’s a disadvantage we have with living in the north, but we have to deal with it.”

The key to the team’s season, said senior Joe Cermak, will be the first tournament of the season – the Big 4 Championship on Sept. 4. Iowa State won an early tournament, the Nevada Wolfpack Classic in Reno, Nev., last year.

“Last year, we won in Reno, and it seemed to set the tone for the rest of the year,” Cermak said.

Along with Cermak, Iowa State will be led by senior Chris Baker.

In addition to providing their skills as players, they will be counted on to play a larger leadership role.

One of the players who has noticed this is redshirt freshman Eric Lindquist.

“Joe, Chris and the other upperclassmen make it easy to look up to them. They are always there to help the rest of the team out,” Lindquist said.

“It’s nice having players like them on the team who can teach the underclassmen what it is like to play college golf.”

Iowa State will need these underclassmen to contribute if they hope to remain competitive in the tough Big 12.

The conference includes high-ranked teams, such as No. 4 Oklahoma State and No. 12 Texas A&M.

The Cyclones face a schedule with no home tournaments, which could be seen as a huge disadvantage.

Instead, Cermak sees this as a positive.

“During my time at Iowa State, I’ve never had a [home tournament],” he said. “I realize that it would be nice, but I kind of like it. At home, your expectations are higher and you get too comfortable. When we’re on the road, we are then able to surprise some people.”