The Iowa State men’s golf team finished up its regular season Saturday at the Thunderbird Invitational in Phoenix, Arizona.

The Cyclones finished in 14th place out of 17 teams and are looking for a spark heading into the Big 12 Championship tournament.

Tone setter

If the team is going to make a run at the top of the leaderboard during the tournament, they are going to need a top-10 finisher.

Luckily for the Cyclones, they have golfers capable of this. 

Junior Lachlan Barker has finished in the top 10 13 times in his career, including a streak of three earlier in the spring season.

Another candidate for a great finish is senior Tripp Kinney. Kinney has racked up 12 top-10 finishes in his collegiate career.

If the team wants to come home as conference champions, someone will have to set the tone.

Three good rounds

Iowa State has had troubles stringing three rounds of their best golf together all spring.

There are a lot of great teams in the Big 12 conference this season, and there will be very little room for error at the conference championship.

At the Thunderbird Invitational, the Cyclones scored a 284 in the first round and a 282 in the second. The final round was a big blow for the team as they finished with a score of 294.

If Iowa State is going to make a push at the title, it cannot afford a shaky round.

The big stage

One of the most difficult things to predict in sports is how players will react to the big stage. 

There will be players that will step up in the coming events, and there will be those that do not golf their best.

If the Cyclones can manage to step up to the big stage, they have the talent to record a great finish.

The next event for the team is the Big 12 Championship from April 26-28 in Hutchinson, Kansas.