Consistency has been the key to the Cyclones’ early season success and their participation in the Air Force Invitational was no different.

The Cyclones, one of 24 teams in the tournament, claimed a third place finish at the 54-hole tournament which was held Sept. 13-14 in Colorado Springs, Colo.

“I am proud of my players,” Head Coach Dale Anderson said. “We averaged 73.6 strokes per round, which to the best of my knowledge, is the best performance we have ever played on a championship course.”

“I am pleased with our performance because we went out and shot what we wanted to,” Anderson said.

The Cyclones claimed a third place finish despite leading by a stroke with one round to go. “If we would have gotten a break or two we could have won,” Anderson said.

But the consistency theme was evident in the individual scores of the Cyclone golfers.

Junior Jason Knutzon led the team with his fifth place finish and a 219 stroke total. Knutzon’s total was three strokes over par for the course. The finish earned Knutzon a spot on the all-tournament team. “He played very, very solid,” Anderson said. “He has been having some driving problems and ended up using my driver for the final two rounds.”

Senior Donnie Teeter continued a fabulous fall by posting a final stroke count of 221 shots. Teeter’s total earned him a 10th place finish, but that was only the beginning for Teeter.

Each team was allowed to select a player to participate in the annual pro-am tournament which proceeds the tournament. Teeter was selected to participate for the Cyclones and he put on a show.

The senior posted an eight-under par score of 28 through the first nine holes. According to Anderson, the Air Force coach said the lowest score he had ever heard of before was a 32.

“Donnie had a very solid tournament,” Anderson said. “He ended up 10th and played outstandingly well.”

“In fact Donnie was shooting two under on the last round when he ran into a little bad luck when he drove the ball into the bunker,” Anderson said.

Junior Jon Levy has continued to build his maturity as a collegiate golfer. “Jon played his best college tournament to date,” Anderson said. “He is starting to mature and is solidifying his game. He is really starting to step it up.” Levy posted a final tally of 223 strokes to finish in a tie for 19th overall, giving the Cyclones three top 20 finishers.

Junior Travis Korver broke out of his recent slump and is beginning to return to his old form when he posted a final tally of 225 strokes. “It was a good performance for Travis, he is a premiere player be he couldn’t quite get it done,” Anderson said.

Freshman Aaron Patton played in his second collegiate tournament and shook off his freshman jitters to post a final card of 226 strokes. Patton’s score was good enough for a 37th place finish.

“Aaron has a tremendous tournament,” Anderson said. “He was our leader after the first day with a first round score of 71, but then he began to fade a little bit, but he did a tremendous job.”

Big 12 rival Nebraska claimed the team title with a final score of 875 strokes, followed by Ball State’s 881. ISU claimed third with their final tally of 884 strokes, finishing in a tie with Michigan.