The Iowa State men’s golf team competed Sunday through Tuesday in the Hootie at Bulls Bay Tournament in Awendaw, South Carolina.

Similar to past events, the Cyclones improved in each round after a rough first round and finished 10th out of the 16 team field.

Lindwall’s hot hand

While Tripp Kinney and Lachlan Barker have been the most consistent performers for the team this spring, it was Frank Lindwall who popped off the scorecard.

After a first round where he finished three over par, Lindwall rebounded with a 71 in both the second and third rounds. He also led the team with 11 birdies.

Lindwall finished tied for 23rd at the event, which is his best finish this spring. This is a good sign for a team that needs better performance down the lineup.

First round struggles continue

The Cyclones put up a first round score of 295 and improved by five strokes in each round thereafter. While improving in each round is something worth noting, the first round issues has been a consistent theme.

The only teams that finished with a worse first round score were Wichita State and Louisiana Tech, who ended day one in 15th and 16th and stayed there.

Even with their poor first round score, only seven strokes separated the Cyclones from a top 5 finish. Simply put, the team can’t continue to put up the first round scores they have been if they hope to finish towards the top of each event.

Long break

Iowa State won’t be back in action until April 16-17 at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational in Tucson, Arizona. They last competed in the event in 2019, as it was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This leaves plenty of time to work on some of the consistent issues the team has had. This is the last regular season event, and a strong finish would help to build confidence leading into conference championship play.