Optimism abounds for the ISU men’s golf team this year as it returns all its golfers from last season and adds a new golfer to the mix.

“The guys are definitely more comfortable starting off the year than we were last year,” said coach Jay Horton. “But we are playing in probably one of our toughest tournaments starting out.”

The William H. Tucker Intercollegiate tournament in Albuquerque, N.M., starts Friday and is loaded with some of the perennial powers in men’s college golf. New Mexico, Arizona, BYU and Northwestern are all expected to be top-10 schools again this year, making the trip a challenge.

But with the experience gained last year by the young golfers, Horton said he sees no reason his team can’t be right at the top of the mix.

“We’re young, but we don’t have any true freshmen going out in their first tournament,” he said.

The team is led by junior Chris Baker and sophomore Joe Cermak, the top two golfers from last year’s squad. Number three golfer Rodney Hamblin is also capable of posting some low scores, as are the last two members traveling to New Mexico, newcomer John Larson and Patrick Hall.

“It’s [Larson’s] first tournament, but he’s in his third season of college,” Horton said. “He practiced and played at the University of Minnesota, which has been a perennial top 25 team the last few years.

“I think he’s found a home here, and I like his game. I think he definitely brings some depth to our team.”

Larson left Minnesota because he didn’t think he would get a chance to play and contacted Horton about transferring, a move Cermak said he couldn’t be happier with.

“Johnny could even play number one at times, he’s very good,” Cermak said. “And he might be that missing link we needed from last year.”

But the pressure still rests on Baker and Cermak to produce consistently, something they did more at the end of last year. Although there is no rivalry there, Cermak said that there is always competition.

“We’re the most competitive golfers, so we work each other,” he said. “But it pushes us to be better, so it’s a good competition.”

Horton said he hopes to see the fruits of that labor during the fall season, as he said the fall sets the team up for the spring. To make a run at NCAA and regional tournaments, you have to have a good fall.

“We need to get off to a good start,” he said. “And if you get behind the eight ball, it makes it a little bit tougher to make a move.”

Although this is the team’s first trip to New Mexico’s course, it still has a good feeling going in.

“If we play to our abilities and play our game, there’s no reason why we can’t finish top five, or even win it,” Cermak said.