After an eighth-place finish in the Big 12 tournament last year, the ISU men’s golf team is anxious to get the 2004-05 campaign going. The key for this year’s Cyclone team will be young players stepping up and developing into college golfers.

“In order for us to win, our young guys are going to have to play well. We want to improve from last year,” said Drew Dalziel.

Coach Jay Horton has had his work cut out for him with the loss of last year’s team leaders — Tyler Swanson to a car accident and Jeremy Lyons to graduation.

Swanson will redshirt the season after suffering major head trauma in the May 2 accident.

“We’ll find out how and see how these young guys react. The talent is there; they’re just going to have to step it up sooner,” Horton said.

A key to the young players developing will be how quickly they react to the changes that collegiate golf brings compared to playing in the summer.

“Summer golf is a lot different than playing college golf. School can be a big distraction, and they’ll just have to develop,” Horton said. “These are going to be the guys who lead us eventually, so they’ll just have to do it sooner than normal.”

Dalziel remembers what it was like when he was a freshman and said it’s up to the newcomers to develop into Division I golfers.

“I’ve been in their situation before, and this is a lot different than high school golf. There really isn’t anything that any of us older guys can do for them,” Dalziel said. “You just have to experience it for yourself.”

The fall season starts off this weekend in South Bend, Ind., at the three-day Notre Dame Invitational.

The team will then travel to Newport, R.I., to participate in the Adams Cup on Sept. 27-28.

Sophomore Paul Huddle said he believes that the fall season will be very beneficial to the team as it heads into the spring and the Big 12 tournament.

“The first couple of tournaments will be a giant learning experience,” Huddle said.

“They will be a good chance for our young guys to get their feet wet and see what college golf is all about.”

Though the Cyclones will have to overcome the adversity of losing two team leaders, Horton said he still thinks that the team has a very bright future.

“It ‘ s very realistic for us to make the NCAA tournament,” he said. “We still have three guys who played good all the time last year on the team.”