Iowa State women’s golf was getting ready for the Mountain View Collegiate, until its plans got flipped upside down.

The COVID-19 outbreak caused the Big 12 Conference to cancel the entirety of winter and spring sport seasons for the remaining school year. This means that the remaining 2019-20 season has been canceled for the Cyclones. They had two more tournaments prior to postseason play until the Big 12 issued its statement.

After a hot start to the season in the fall, Iowa State got off to a slow start in the spring. It began with a tie for third and first place finishes. In its next five tournaments, it finished no better than a tie for sixth place.

Luckily for Head Coach Christie Martens, heading into next season’s campaign, her team will be returning the majority of their production from this season. Amelia Grohn will be the only senior moving on from the team.

Grohn will leave Ames with a decorated Cyclone career. Her eight top 20 career finishes will be missed, but Iowa State will have plenty of golfers ready to step up next season.

Consistently inconsistent 

To put it simply, the theme of Iowa State’s 2019-20 campaign was its inconsistent play. There were times where it looked like it could play with any team in the country. This was headlined by its third and first place finishes to open the season.

Individually, sophomore Taglao Jeeravivitaporn opened the season with an 11th place finish at the Dick McGuire Invitational. As a team, the Cyclones answered this performance by winning the East & West Match Play Championship. Oddly enough, Jeeravivitaporn was the only Cyclone to lose her individual matchup.

After a great start to the season, the Cyclones struggled to find the same success they had in September. They were not able to finish better than sixth throughout the rest of the season.

Freshman Liyana Durisic was the lone bright spot for Iowa State through the second half of the season. The Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, native finished 26th or better at all but one of the last six tournaments.

Although the season could’ve went better for the Cyclones, they will have plenty to look forward to next season.

A bright future

A reason for Iowa State’s up and down season may have been its inexperience. Next season, it will have only three total upperclassmen. Alanna Campbell and Joy Chou will be seniors, and Jeeravivitaporn will be the lone junior.

Even though the 2019-20 season did not go as planned, there is plenty of reason for optimism. Jeeravivitaporn led the team with three top 15 finishes. Sisters Ruby and Joy Chou were able to bounce back after a slow start to the season, as they finished with a combined five top 40 finishes.

Durisic had one of the best freshman campaigns in the country, let alone Iowa State. She is in line to take a step forward next season.