The Iowa State men’s golf team is set to travel to Texas for the third and final time during the fall season to compete in the Maridoe Collegiate Invitational. 

The Cyclones have had tough experiences in their young season so far — most recently, finishing in eighth place out of nine teams at the Big 12 Match Play Championship with a record of 1-4.

Looking toward this final tournament of the fall season, the Cyclones will once again play a field of stiff competition, playing many of the same teams they competed against in Big 12 Match Play.

Head Coach Andrew Tank is looking forward to continuing the season at Maridoe.

“Things didn’t go the way we wanted in the first two tournaments this year, but we realized that we need to put things into perspective and keep continuing to practice,” Tank said.

Tank has guided the Cyclones for 11 years, having overseen a resurgence of the program with three appearances at the NCAA Championships in 2014, 2017 and 2018. Iowa State has also had success individually under Tank’s tenure, with four players finishing in the top 50 at the NCAAs.

For Tank and his squad, the competition at the Maridoe Collegiate will not be the only element they will have to face this weekend, as the course itself will present a challenge.

“From what I’ve been hearing, it’s going to be a pretty tough course, and it’s going to be windy,” Tank said. “We’ve been practicing at Harvester [Golf Club] for the past few days to prepare for that aspect of the tournament.”

The Maridoe Golf Course is a par-72, 7,865-yard long course, with an initial design to test top players due to its long fairways and punishing slopes to slow elite players down.

Tank’s general strategy for the Cyclones during the tournament is aligned around strengthening the mental game for his players, with the intent on focusing for each hole throughout the competition.

“We’ve been trying to have the guys develop a scoring mindset,” Tank said. “The format of competition this weekend is five players per team, with top four scoring, so we want to have a scoring mindset for the overall team.”

The Maridoe Collegiate Invitational will be Oct. 18-22 at the Maridoe Golf Club in Carrollton, Texas.

The Cyclones will be competing with Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas, Texas Tech, North Texas, Pepperdine and East Tennessee State.