The Iowa State men’s golf team started its spring season at the Arizona Intercollegiate in Tucson, Arizona, on a much stronger note than much of its fall season.

Strong field

The Cyclones as a team placed eighth overall in the 17 team field. Iowa State was competing against the likes of Arizona, Wake Forest, New Mexico, San Francisco, UNLV, Oregon, San Diego, and Washington State in the top nine. Oregon State, Denver, and ULM tied for tenth. 

This finish tops any of the fall 2020 season finishes for the Cyclones. 

Arizona, the champions of the Arizona Intercollegiate, had all but one golfer in the top 20. 

Arizona’s Brad Reeves took home the top title with a score of 209. 

Veterans lead the way

At the Arizona Intercollegiate, the Cyclones were led by junior Lachlan Barker and senior Tripp Kinney and an experienced transfer golfer in Nate Vance.

Barker clinched the silver medal at the Arizona Intercollegiate. His round one and two 1-under 70’s kept him in the top five throughout all three days of competition. He finished the competition with a total score of 211.

All-American senior Tripp Kinney battled from being tied for 45th in round one to finishing tied for 17th at the end of round three. He finished play with a score of 218. This jump allowed the Cyclones to take a higher standing and clinch a top 10 team finish.

Vance competed in his first competition as a Cyclone golfer after transferring from Loyola. He tied for 78th at the event.

From fall to now, the team has shown improvement. In round two, the Cyclones maintained a top five standing for the majority of the day. If the Cyclones want to continue to improve and possibly end competitions with a top five win, more Cyclones need to be in the top 20 standings at the end of play. 

There are many possibilities to what the Cyclone men can achieve. With five competitions before the start of Big 12 Championship play at the end of April, the Cyclones have time to sharpen their skills and grow on what they have.

Even though the Cyclone grabbed two top 20 finishes in Barker and Kinney, the

The Cyclones next competition will be the Prestige at PGA west in La Quinta, California, on Feb. 15-17.