The Iowa State women’s golf team battled bad weather on the first day to shoot a two-round total of 630 en route to a fifth-place finish in the Lady Razorback Invitational.

Going into the weekend, head coach Julie Manning gave her team a goal of finishing in the top half of the field. By finishing fifth place, they did just that.

“Unlike last weekend, our team played very, very well,” Manning also added, “Hopefully, it’s like a snowball situation — we keep getting better.”

Despite the first-round rainout and bad playing conditions, the Cyclones finished the tournament with an excellent round of 312 on the last day, which was the second lowest of any team.

Heather Elenbaas stepped up for the team, shooting a two-round total of 153 to finish in a tie for ninth place.

“Heather is a great competitor and played very well all tournament,” Manning said.

Also playing very well in the tournament were Noel Jacobusse and Cathy Ennis, who finished 13th and 16th, respectively. Manning said she was impressed with the consistency her top golfers displayed in the tough conditions. Elenbaas and Ennis stayed calm and shot excellent second rounds, she said.

“This was a good tournament for us. There was good competition, and we beat the teams we should of,” Manning said.

One of the reasons for the much improved play might be the new addition of assistant coach Lance Ringler. Ringler is a 1995 ISU graduate and recently has served as the assistant men’s and women’s golf coach at the University of Idaho for the last two years.

In 1997, he also served as a full-time caddy on the PGA tour for Craig Bowden.

“The past three years, I have been involved with the highest levels of golf, both professionally and collegiately. I hope to use those experiences to help these programs climb the ladder in the Big 12 Conference,” Ringler said.

Manning said she expects more of the same results in a tournament where there should be more Big 12 teams competing.

“I never doubted the talent on this team; we just had some individuals that needed to feel comfortable and step up,” Manning said.