The Iowa State women’s golf team looks to continue its successful season as it travels to Phoenix over the weekend to compete in Big 12 Match Play. 

The No. 16-ranked Cyclones could not have asked for a better way to end their regular season, capturing first place at the MountainView Collegiate tournament March 17-19 with a combined team score of 804. They captured their second first place of the season and broke an NCAA record for the lowest 54-hole team score in NCAA history. 

The Cyclones were led by freshman Karisa Chul-Ak-Sorn, who also tied an NCAA individual scoring record and secured first place overall with a three-round total of 191. 

While that was Chul-Ak-Sorn’s best outing this season, she has put together a solid first year at Iowa State. In the spring half of the season, she placed third at the San Diego State Classic and tied for fourth at the UCF Challenge. 

Chul-Ak-Sorn is ranked No. 8 in the country, which is the highest among golfers in the Big 12. The closest to her in the rankings is Baylor’s Sera Hasegawa at No. 20. 

In Big 12 Match Play, the Cyclones will see five teams ranked in the top-50, headlined by No. 8 Texas and No. 13 Baylor. In their previous meeting at the Stanford Intercollegiate back in February, Iowa State finished better than both of the top-ranked squads. 

What’s most important for the Cyclones to find success this weekend is not to have Chul-Ak-Sorn be the only one with a solid three-round stretch. Another golfer on the squad that has stepped up when needed is junior Liyana Durisic, who earned sixth and runner-up in her last two tournaments, respectively. 

A factor that the Cyclones won’t have to worry about this weekend is the weather. Phoenix is scheduled for sunshine, high temperatures and low winds all weekend–perfect conditions for competitive rounds of golf.

Big 12 Match Play will kick off Friday morning and continue through Sunday evening. Live stats can be found on Golfstat.