The Iowa State men’s golf team returned home to Ames from a three-day stint at the Badger Invitational, finishing tied for third place. The tournament began Sunday and ran through Tuesday afternoon.

A rocky first day

The start of the tournament could not have gone worse for the Cyclones. Overall, the team had 26 bogeys and only managed 13 birdies. Both of the juniors on the roster, Tripp Kinney and Sam Vincent, struggled the first day. Kinney shot 8-over-par for the day and racked up eight bogies, while Vincent ended his day with a 4-over-par. Ricky Costello ended his day with a plus-one round and Frank Lindwall shot a 6-over-par.

“The course played the toughest that day for us and it also happened to be the windiest day of the tourney. We all prepared hard going in, but you are going to have those days every single tournament,” Costello said. “We have not started off well in the fall, so we wanted to jump ahead early, but it didn’t start that way.”

The Cyclones finished the opening round of the tournament tied for sixth place with Rutgers with a score of 13-over-par. Costello said the guys went back to the hotel that night and the atmosphere felt “like it never happened.”

“Everyone let it go and they were all so confident in their play that they knew Monday would be better,” Costello said.

Coach Andrew Tank couldn’t exactly pinpoint what the reason was behind his team’s first day struggles either.

“I’m not sure, we all felt prepared leading up to the tournament, it was a weird day. It’s not often we have four of the guys not perform their best, which ultimately led to a bad team score,” Tank said. “I know they worked hard leading up to the tournament, so we had to forget about it if were going to have a better tournament.”

Great performances on second day

Iowa State found itself enjoying its Monday due to multiple bounce-back performances. The Cyclones moved up to fourth place with a plus-one score to end the day. Kinney, Lachlan Barker, Vincent and Lindwall came back with much better scorecards. Kinney bounced back with a 4-under-par, including no bogies and four birdies.

Lachlan Barker led the team by shooting a 6-minus-par for the day, collecting seven birdies. Vincent finished with a plus-one score and Lindwall did his part by shooting a 3-under-par on Monday, much better than his 6-over-par score from the first day of competition.

“The night after that first round, we all shook it off and focused on tomorrow. We have that type of mentality, and all the guys came out the next day like it was a normal day of golf for us,” Barker said. “As a team, that second day was awesome because it shows we are resilient.”

Lachlan Barker shines

Sophomore Lachlan Barker led the Cyclones to a third-place finish this weekend by providing outstanding performances every single day. By doing so, Barker earned second overall at the tournament.

Unlike most of the team, Barker began the first day of play strong. He shot 1-under-par and ended the day tied for sixth place overall in the individual standings. By the time Monday came to an end, Barker was in first place individually in the tournament with a 7-under-par score. He shot 6-under-par the second day, collecting a team leading seven birdies on that day alone.

The final day of the tournament didn’t end much different, as Barker shot a 3-under-par round, bringing his overall score for the weekend to 10-under.-par Barker ended up shooting 71-66-69 for a total of 206 for the weekend.

“We didn’t even play our best golf and still finished in third. It was great to see everyone compete out there everyday, rather than let that first day stick in the back of our heads,” Barker said. “It felt great to get second place, it’s a big confidence booster and I know it gets me off to a good start which is what we all wanted leaving this tournament.”

At last year’s Badger Invitational, Barker finished tied for 15th place, but Tank was not shocked by his performance this time.

“Lachlan tees it up really well, drives it hard and he prepares well every day. He always focuses on what needs to get done, rather than worry about what others are doing,” Tank said. “This tournament was a great way to start the year for him and for the team because that wasn’t their best golf. We’ll look it over and be better.”

“I’m not sure, we all felt prepared leading up to the tournament, it was a weird day. It’s not often we have four of the guys not perform their best, which ultimately led to a bad team score,” Tank said. “I know they worked hard leading up to the tournament, so we had to forget about it if were going to have a better tournament.”