Cyclone men’s golf heads to Columbia for Missouri Tiger Invitational
Senior Tripp Kinney and junior Ricky Costello walk to their golf balls after teeing off on the first hole April 5, 2019, at Coldwater Golf Links.
Iowa State men’s golf will travel to Columbia, Missouri, for the Missouri Tiger Invitational after placing 10th at the Wyoming Cowboy Classic.
Iowa State has built consistency in its last two outings and will look to continue that trend heading into the final stretch of the season.
The Cyclones placed in the top half in an outing for the first time in six months, and consistency from players such as Luke Gutschewski and Paul Beauvy have propelled them to stronger individual and team rounds in the last two weeks.
The Missouri Tiger Invitational is the second-to-last regular season invitational before Big 12 Championship play starts. The Cyclones are in the middle of the busiest stretch of the season and have been playing some of their best golf of the year in this stretch.
Gutschewski finished in a tie for 10th at the Wyoming Cowboy Classic and shot 11 birdies. Gutschewski is the only Cyclone currently ranked in the top 100.
The success of the team has greatly depended on Gutschewski’s play and the support he receives from any of the other four Cyclones in their top-five. The Wyoming Cowboy Classic saw Beauvy finish in sixth place individually.
With Gutschewski and another Cyclone in the top-10, Iowa State was able to come away with a top-half finish. This will continue to be the recipe for success and improvement for a young Cyclone team that only features one senior; the rest are sophomores and freshmen.
Other Cyclones will need to continue to step up, like Beauvy did in Arizona, if Iowa State wants to place well at the Missouri Tiger Invitational and at the Hawkeye Invitational.
There is not one specific player that is more primed than another to have a breakout performance in Columbia. The team is loaded with young talent and any of them have the ability to step up as the season comes to a close. Nate Vance, Lukas Pany, Kyo Morishita and Beauvy have all shown the ability to put up great individual scores this season.
Building consistency and putting it all together as a team have been themes for the Cyclones throughout the season. There have been plenty of stellar individual performances by Cyclone golfers, but the team has not had these individual performances be consistent.
Before the Wyoming Cowboy Classic, the instances of two Cyclones placing individually in the top-ten had been few and far between. They were able to break through together in Arizona, and togetherness will be the key again if they are to place well in Missouri.
One stellar score won’t cut it, as it must be a unified effort, and the Cyclones must put up competitive scores together if they are to build momentum before the Big 12 Championship.
The Cyclones will compete at the Missouri Tiger Classic starting Monday and concluding Tuesday in Columbia.
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