While central Iowa is blanketed in snow, the ISU men’s golf team tees off its spring campaign south of the border.

“I know nothing about the course, but I know they’ve got 80-degree weather down in Mexico,” said coach Jay Horton.

The Cyclones will compete against 10 other teams this Sunday and Monday in the Club de Golf Santa Anita / North Texas Classic in Guadalajara, the first tournament for the team since October.

A last-place finish in the intra-Iowa Big Four Tournament capped a disappointing fall season, which otherwise saw Iowa State finish no higher than 11th in team competition.

In the opening meet of the season, the William H. Tucker Invite in Albuquerque, N.M., the Cyclones finished last in a 20-team field, 57 strokes behind tournament winner University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

Horton said he hopes the change in season is enough to change the team’s fortunes.

“Coming off the fall, we’ve struggled a little bit and we’re just hoping for this spring season to give us a new, fresh start,” he said.

With six competitions remaining before the Big 12 Championship in April, Horton believes the Cyclones can turn the season around enough to qualify for the NCAA Tournament in May and June.

“Our goals are always the same,” Horton said.

“We want to win and we want to get to the NCAAs. We’re in a big hole from the fall, but we’re focused on one thing, and that’s winning.”

Iowa State’s postseason hopes lie in the hands of a young lineup that consists primarily of sophomores and juniors.

Sophomore Chris Baker has paced the Cyclones in the season thus far with an average of 74.57 strokes per round. The team as a whole has averaged just over 77 strokes.

Also expected to play at the North Texas Classic in addition to Baker are sophomores Joe Cermak, Patrick Hall and John Larson and junior Rodney Hamblin. Those five golfers have played a combined 68 of the Cyclones 85 total rounds this season.

“We’ve got a lot of great players, but there’s inexperience and we’re just trying to finish toward the top,” Horton said.

The first 36 holes of the three-round match will begin at 8:15 a.m. Sunday and the final 18 holes will start at 7:30 a.m. Monday.