Iowa State finished up at the Big 12 Championships Wednesday in eighth with a final round score of 294.

Nate Vance led the way at Whispering Pines Golf Club for the Cyclones (T14), followed by Lachlan Barker (T33) and Luke Gutschewski (T33). 

Sophomore Lukas Pany replaced Josh Hetherington for Wednesday’s round for undisclosed reasons, as he shot a 73.

Ricky Costello’s 81 on the day dropped him to a 44th-place finish. His quadruple bogey on the 18th hole significantly hurt his chances to make a run.

It was the Cyclones’ last regular season event until the fall, but there were some positives to take away from the week in Texas.

Nate Vance career-best finish

Nate Vance enjoyed the best finish of his career, finishing tied for 14th. It’s quite the way to conclude the regular season, as the junior will play a large role on next year’s team.

Vance’s final round 71 on Wednesday helped him to an overall score of 217 (+1). Vance dominated Par 5s all week, as he averaged 4.42 on those holes. That (-7) was tied for the best score on Par 5s amongst his competitors.

Southern teams take over

Heading into the week, four teams were clearly ahead of everyone else in the Big 12 field: Oklahoma (No. 1), Oklahoma State (No. 2), Texas Tech (No. 7) and Texas (No. 9) as the only top-25 teams in the conference.

Those rankings held true throughout the three rounds, as the four teams from the south dominated the competition. Oklahoma ended up winning at -14, just two strokes over 2021 Big 12 champions Oklahoma State.

Texas and Texas Tech rounded out the top-four as the only other teams that finished under-par. To give an idea of the dominance, fifth-place TCU finished at +25, 28 strokes off fourth place. 

Cyclones save their best for last

While the Cyclones didn’t move up on the leaderboard on the final day, they put in their best round of the tournament. After shooting 304 and 302 on Tuesday, Iowa State rallied for a final-round 294.

The major difference was their ability to scramble and finish holes with par. While their 27 birdies ranked last for the tournament, they finished tied for the most pars with 170. 

As the Big 12 Championship wraps up the regular season, Iowa State now waits to hear their postseason fate.

The NCAA Regionals begin May 16 in a three-day event. The location is yet to be announced.