After a summer of preparation, the ISU golfers are set to open collegiate play this weekend. Both the men’s and women’s golf teams will play in their first tournament of the season.

First up are the Cyclone men, who travel to Colorado Springs, Colo. on Saturday to compete in the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational. The Cyclones will face stiff competition in a field that includes teams such as Xavier, Colorado State and recent national champion California.

“Every time we go out, it’s always against good competition,” coach Jay Horton said. “It’ll be different playing in Colorado up in the altitude. The ball flies differently out there, so you have to be a little smarter.”

On a roster that features a healthy number of new faces from last season, the first meet of the season could pose a few challenges. One of them will be figuring out how to calm the nerves.

“We’ve got three newcomers that will be having their first college experience, so I’m sure there will be some anxiety for them,” Horton said. “But all the other guys play so much golf in competitions, it’s really kind of the same thing all the time. I think everybody is just anxious to get the season underway.”

Horton also stressed the importance of starting out well.

“In a way it’s a little bit like football. We only play five tournaments in the fall, and then we play eight in the spring, so you only have 13 opportunities to play well,” Horton said. “If you play poorly in three or four of those, it can really hurt your chances at the postseason.”

The lineup will include juniors Joe Cermak and Chris Baker and senior Rodney Hamblin, who are all holdovers from last year. Rounding out the top five will be freshmen newcomers Cameron White and Cedric Bertin. Horton said he has confidence in all of his starters, especially Cermak.

“Joe Cermak has played the most consistent all summer long,” Horton said. “I look for big things out of everybody, but he’s been as steady and consistent as anybody throughout the whole year.”

Cermak recorded a 76.32 stroke average as a sophomore last season. He also broke the low-54 school record by shooting a 204 at one event.

On Sunday, the Cyclone women will tee off at another Midwest event when they travel to Madison, Wis. to compete in the Badger Invitational. Like the men, the women are anxious to get started.

“I’m really excited about the team that we have,” coach Christie Martens said. “We have four of our starters returning and all of our counters returning from last year.”

The only nonreturning starter from last year is Tracy Stanford, who transferred to Texas Tech. Nonetheless, the Cyclone women feel they have enough experience to be a force this season.

“I think that’s going to be huge, especially in the spring gearing up for the Big 12,” said junior Karly Pinder of the returning starters. “I think that we’ll have the strongest team we’ve had since I’ve been here.”

The Cyclone women will have a few factors working in their favor this weekend. The site is much closer than most of their tournaments, and they are familiar with the course.

“It helps because we played in this tournament last year,” Pinder said. “Once you’re familiar with a golf course, it makes things a little easier. You have kind of a game plan going into the tournament.”

The women are led by their only senior, Christi Athas. Athas led the team with a 77.43 stroke average last season and recorded a pair of top-five finishes. She also qualified for the U.S. Women’s Amateur last summer.

“I think Christi will have a really strong senior year,” Pinder said. “She’s been playing well lately and she’s usually pretty consistent.”

Other golf resources from ISD:

Teeing off