This year’s field at The Prestige at PGA West was one of the best that Iowa State will end up facing all season, with 16 of the 17 in the field ranked in the top 100. The high level of competition made the early-round mistakes that the Cyclones had that much more impactful, almost resulting in another finish outside of the top 10.

Day one began slow for all five of the Cyclone golfers, but they were able to bounce back and finished the day within striking distance and tied for sixth.

Iowa State’s second round was sufficient, but not much more than that. The team recorded far too many bogeys, and one late triple bogey from Lachlan Barker proved to be costly.

Heading into its final round, Head Coach Andrew Tank’s team began the day in 11th place and 21 shots off the lead. The Cyclones did not let the leaderboard bother them, as they finished with their best round of the week led by Tripp Kinney’s 68, ending in ninth place overall.

Not starting out strong

For the second competition in a row, the Cyclones failed to begin playing their best golf. In early January at the Arizona Intercollegiate, they began with a score of nine over par and then proceeded to finish 14 over par for their second round. They recouped to finish the tournament three under par.

The Prestige at PGA West was much of the same story. Iowa State shot one over par for round one, eight over par for round two and then they finished with their best round of the week at seven under par.

Iowa State’s inconsistent play is something to keep an eye on moving forward, with top competition not going away anytime soon.

Playing with the best

This year’s Prestige at PGA West was played by some of the best golf programs in the country, including the consensus top team in the country, Pepperdine.

Iowa State’s final round was tied for the third best round out of the entire three days of competition of any team in the tournament.

While the ninth place finish doesn’t exactly show it, its final round should give Iowa State the confidence that it can play with anyone in the country.

Tripp Kinney taking his game to the next level

The Cyclones’ senior leader Tripp Kinney had a very up and down tournament, but he ultimately finished tied for 14th on the individual leaderboard at three under par.

The Waukee, Iowa, native had rounds of one over, one under and three under throughout the week. Kinney finished the week near the top of the field in par four and five success, but he struggled on par threes.

He finished near the bottom with an average score of 3.33 on such holes and a tournament total of four strokes over par. 

Ricky Costello’s bounce back

To begin the spring season, Ricky Costello finished with a rather disappointing tournament-long score at the Arizona Intercollegiate. The junior finished five shots over par, which was the Cyclones’ third best individual score of the tournament.

Costello bounced back this week, finishing at two under par at what was believed to be a much tougher course. If the Homer Glenn, Illinois, native is able to contribute this level of play to Iowa State, its ceiling will only grow.

Iowa State will look to carry its momentum into its next tournament, which will be March 2-3 in Bluffton, South Carolina, for the Colleton River Collegiate.