After finishing third at the Windon Memorial Sunday and Monday, the Iowa State men’s golf team was able to place in the top three at its first two tournaments of the year, something it has not accomplished since 2014.

Tripp Kinney bounces back

Tripp Kinney did not start his season off the way he wanted at the Cyclones’ first tournament but returned to his team-leading form at the Windon Memorial. Kinney placed second overall individually, a big improvement from his finish of 23rd at the Badger Invitational. Coach Andrew Tank brought high praise for one of his team-leader’s performances.

“It was great to see him perform like that, he played solid all tournament,” Tank said. “Tripp made a lot of birdies and really continued what he was doing toward the end of the Badger Invitational.”

Kinney shot minus nine for the Cyclones, leading the team by 13 strokes. He shot even par for the first round but finished the last two rounds with positive scores of 5-under-par and 4-under-par. Tripp was the only Iowa State golfer at the Windon Memorial to not have double-digit bogies and the only one to shoot over 11 birdies. Tripp totaled 16 birdies through all three rounds, having the second-most birdies in the entire field. Kinney felt surprisingly comfortable going into the tournament.

“I felt really good coming into this tournament, I liked where my game was at,” Kinney said. “I was just looking to hit everything, usually where the pin was on the green is where I looked. My goal was to hit the fat side as much as I could to have a shot to putt in every hole.”

Fellow junior, Sam Vincent, added that Kinney’s performance allowed the rest of the team to climb the leaderboard all three rounds. Kinney admits to feeling the weight of the pressure as the final round was coming closer to the end.

“I’ll admit, once the leaderboard became closer, I felt a little pressure on the final holes,” Kinney said. “I actually was paired with the guy in front of me in the standings so we both were feeling it a little.”

Another slow start

Iowa State wants to start every tournament out fast and come into the first round with confidence, according to sophomore Ricky Costello. The Cyclones did the opposite once again, carding scores of 292 and 291 in the first two rounds, leaving them sitting in seventh place as Sunday came to a close. Tank was pleased with the outcome of the tournament but the start was disappointing once again.

“It still isn’t what we are hoping for, but I am pleased with the direction,” Tank said. “These slow starts have shown that we can weather our lowest rounds and still compete in the end.”

Costello, junior Sam Vincent and Badger Invitational standout Lachlan Barker all struggled the first two rounds. Each posted at least four above par for the two rounds, with Barker struggling the most by shooting 10-over-par.

“I am not sure what was the reason the team struggled, but I know my bad scores came from me not shooting off the tee well,” Vincent said. “My balls were not getting to the fairway which makes it more difficult if you don’t start off right.”

Birdies fueling Cyclones

The Cyclones have not only walked out of their first two tournaments of the year with solid top-three finishes, but with tons of birdies as well. Iowa State has finished in the top three in total amount of birdies shot at both competitions this year.

The team grabbed the top spot at the Windon Memorial by bringing in a total of 55 birdies, six more than any other team. At the Badger Invitational, the Cyclones ended up in third with 52 birdies. This early accumulation of birdies means future success to Kinney, who knows the more birdies you shoot, means you’ll probably win in the end.

“Birdies are always helpful, I mean you can’t win without them,” said Kinney. “I know that if we keep getting birdies then our team will always be in a spot to win.”