For Iowa State golf, the Arizona Intercollegiate tournament has proven to be a negative chapter in the program’s history books. This year’s tournament, which begins at 8 a.m. Monday, will be Iowa State’s chance to reverse its recent woes.

“In the past we haven’t performed that well in this tournament so I think we are going with a chip on our shoulder,” said junior Sam Vincent. 

The beginning of the negative streak for the Cyclones began in the 2015-16 season. That year Iowa State headed into Tucson, Arizona, with solid finishes in their four previous tournaments.

But when the Arizona Intercollegiate ended, Iowa State finished in ninth place out of 17 teams.

Once the 2016-17 season rolled around, the story was almost the same.

Iowa State finished 10th out of 18 teams with a total score of 896 (302-307-287).

At the time, Vincent and Tripp Kinney were freshmen and ended with modest scores. Vincent gave the Cyclones a 238 performance (81-78-79) and Kinney brought home a 226 clip (77-78-71).

Iowa State came into the 2016-17 Intercollegiate on a hot-streak. The Cyclones walked into Tucson having finished 1st, T-8th, 2nd and 2nd in their previous four tournaments.

At the end of the day, the Arizona Intercollegiate was unforgiving to the Cyclones once again.

Lachlan Barker, currently a sophomore, witnessed his teammates head to Tucson in the 2017-18 season but was unavailable to compete with them due to an injury. He understands the omens that have haunted Iowa State in the tournament.

“Historically we haven’t played this tournament well as a team,” Barker said. “We have been talking about wanting to get a fast start to the spring and it starts on Monday.” 

Iowa State’s struggles continued at the Intercollegiate in 2017-18. The Cyclones ended up in 14th place out of 18 teams. The team totaled a 919 score (325-287-307). 

However, the team wants to make one thing clear: the past is the past and the 2018-19 season might be the turning point of the Cyclones’ Intercollegiate woes.

Coach Andrew Tank has been the coach during all four trips to Arizona and embraces the opportunity to play in a tournament like the Intercollegiate so early in the spring season. 

“It’s fun to get a tournament early in the spring and it’s something we look at as a challenge where we aren’t shying away playing early in the spring,” Tank said.

Tank also noted that the team traveled out to Arizona last weekend to practice and to get to know the course. He made a point before and during the trip to Arizona last weekend the team must attack the offseason and get better as competition gets closer.

Kinney will make his third appearance at the Intercollegiate on Monday. He believes the team as a whole is ready to attack the moment the tournament begins. 

“I think everyone’s game is in a really good spot right now,” Kinney said. “We have to go out there and play with confidence and if we do that I think we will have a great chance to compete with all those teams.”