Iowa State wrapped up the final day of competition at the Prestige at the PGA West Wednesday evening, finishing the tournament tied for sixth place (302-299-275) with Stanford.

Final round saves Cyclones

While Iowa State ended up placing in toward the top of the tournament field, the Cyclones were not sitting in the position they ended in for most of the tournament.

Iowa State began the first round with lots of bogies (28) and mental errors, said coach Andrew Tank.

The Cyclones were their own worst enemy, Tank said, trying too hard to find “perfect shots” when they might not have been there.

After the first round, Iowa State sat in 14th place.

“The first round got bad for us right on the first hole,” Tank said. “We hit a lot of balls in the desert, since we didn’t hit the fairways, which if you don’t do that, then the rest of the course is desert and brush.” 

Day two didn’t see any better results for Iowa State.

The Cyclones ended the second round in 15th place, shooting 14 over par for the round (299). The team accumulated even more bogies than the first round of play.

The night after the second round concluded, Tank and the coaching staff spoke to the players about overcoming themselves and going out for the third round to play loose on the course.

“In the first two rounds we tried too hard to be perfect,” junior Sam Vincent said. “We all realized we had to get out of our own way and luckily we did.”

The final round came with a dramatic jump up the leaderboard for the Cyclones, climbing nine spots in the final round. 

Iowa State shot 9 under for the final round and had the lowest score in a round of any team in the tournament.

Both juniors, Vincent and Tripp Kinney, led the way for the Cyclones on the final day. Kinney tallied a score of 5 under and Vincent shot minus 6.

The rest of the team sharply improved from their opening round scores. Lachlan Barker shot 1 under, Frank Lindwall shot 3 over and Ricky Costello carded a round of 5 over par.

“I think making the big jump that we made is really good for us,” Tank said. “You learn most from when you struggle and we learned a lot those first two rounds but to see how we responded is good for all of us.”

Vincent and Barker lead the way

Throughout most of the Prestige at the PGA West, Iowa State got consistent play from two of the program’s most experienced golfers.

Both golfers were the two highest finishers for Iowa State, with Vincent ending up tied for 11th place and Barker tied for 17th place individually.

Vincent’s card tallied up to a 214 score (77-72-65). Vincent shot 6 under in the third round, better than any other golfer in the tournament. His 65 in the final round became his new career-low for a round.

“Sam hung in there the whole way,” Tank said. “That final round he had was probably the best round I have seen in his career.”

Vincent attributed his success at the Prestige to his comfort on the fairway and on the greens. During his first two rounds, Vincent wanted to improve his driving off the tee and was looking to put the ball on the fairway consistently.

Vincent’s teammate for three years, Kinney, was amazed with Vincent’s career day at the Prestige.

“It was so awesome to see him do that,” Kinney said. “A 65 on the final round is great for him. He has been working really hard and he deserves it.”

Barker had himself a solid tournament as well. Finishing three shots back of his teammate, Barker ended his tournament with a score of 217 (70-77-70).

Barker brought a new putting style to the tournament, which his coach believes made the sophomore from Australia play “scrappy” on the course.

“[Barker] always plays like that so that is nothing surprising,” Vincent said. “He kept himself calm during it all so it made him pretty successful out there.”

Live and Learn

For the Cyclones, a top-six finish at a tournament with eight teams ranked in Golfstat’s top-50 teams in the country would seem like a success.

However, players and coaches arrived at the same sentiment that while a finish in the top-six is nothing to scoff at, the team expects more.

Tank said he wants the team to come away from the Prestige with an aggressive mindset and a loose attitude when they arrive at a tournament.

“I thought we played scared in the first two rounds,” Tank said. “We were scared about not making shots everytime or worrying about outside noise, we need to learn from that.”

Kinney and Vincent want the team to come away from the Prestige content but ready to attack the next opportunity.

“When we stop holding ourselves back, we have the talent to compete with any team we face,” Kinney said. “Once we do that, the scores will speak for themselves.”