Cyclone Jon Brackmann continued his hot play with his second consecutive top-five finish as he led the Iowa State men’s golf team to a sixth-place finish at the Arkansas State meet earlier this week.

Brackmann finished regulation play tied for first place with V.J. Trolio from Southern Mississippi, but lost on the playoff hole to finish second.

The junior shot rounds of 70-71-75. It was his best finish of the season.

“Jon had played well last week at Springfield [Mo.], but had a tough last round. This week he had three solid rounds, and if he could have got a few puts to fall down the stretch he would have won,” ISU Coach Jamie Bermel said.

“He is gaining more and more confidence, and he is really helping the team,” he said.

Brackmann also attributes his consecutive successes to his augmented confidence.

“My confidence is as high as it has ever been in a long time,” he said.

He said the combination of Spring Break play and the squad’s hard work during the lengthy off-season moved his confidence in a skyward direction.

He said that he played respectable games in the fall season, but his overall score was always plagued by one mediocre round.

His goal during the spring has been to eliminate that higher round in order to shoot three consistent scores. So far, he has been successful in his attempt.

“I’m pretty happy about it,” Brackmann said. “I’m finally putting together three solid rounds.”

Four of the top seven team finishes were held by ISU regional squads, including the Cyclones. Nebraska and Wichita State took the top two spots.

ISU shot a three-round total of 906 in the 18-team field.

“We didn’t play as well as we would have liked to; overall, we probably played a little above average,” Bermel said.

Scott Hart, Matt Lewis, Jon Levy and Aaron Patton also competed for the Cyclones, each tying for 36th, 39th, 54th and 54th, respectively.

“We received average play from everyone else,” Bermel said. “Some of the guys who had played quite well this fall aren’t shooting the same scores, but it is still early. “I don’t think we’re playing with the same confidence, which is something we have to regain,” he added.

In order to get back into the swing of things, Brackmann said the entire team needs to click as a whole as it was in the fall.

“We need all five guys to play well if we are going to start winning tournaments and being competitive,” he said.

ISU will be on the road April 13-14 challenging in the Diet Pepsi/Shocker Golf Classic in Wichita, Kan.

This is the final meet prior to the conference meet, and Brackmann said the team hopes to use it as a springboard into the Big 12 meet.

“We’re going to go in there trying to win it and get everyone playing well going into the Big 12,” he said.

There, the men will have a chance to revenge some of the teams who beat them last weekend.

Brackmann said the Cyclones lost to some teams they had hoped to beat, but they will have an opportunity to “get back at ’em” in this week’s competition.

“We are going to re-qualify some new people which will hopefully shake things up and make us play better,” Bermel said.