Through two rounds at the UCF Challenge, the tournament’s title appeared to be a misnomer.

Due to benign scoring conditions, six teams were under par heading into the final round and individual rounds of par or better numbered in the dozens.

For No. 32 Iowa State (Golfweek/Golfstat), as well as the rest of the field, the UCF Challenge finally became a true challenge in the final round.

All 18 teams posted over-par rounds and only six of 95 golfers recorded sub-par final rounds as Iowa State went on to finish in a tie for fifth place.

One Cyclone who was able to avoid disaster and tame the gusting Florida winds was Celia Barquin. A total of 10 straight pars to close her round resulted in a top-10 finish for the freshman from Puente San Miguel, Spain.

“I just had the feeling that we played three different courses in this tournament,” Barquin said. “The first day was a pretty nice day, really sunny, no wind, so the golf course was pretty easy. The second day it played hard on the back nine holes. Then today we had a lot of wind and a lot of the holes played longer.”

Despite the teeth the Eagle Creek Golf Club showed in the final round, Barquin hit all 18 greens and had only one bogie to her name en route to tying for sixth place out of 95 golfers.

“I actually am used to playing with wind,” Barquin said. “I really like to practice long shots when it’s windy. I have so much confidence when I’m playing with wind. I think it’s very fun, I have a good mindset for playing in it.”

While Barquin made the most of the gusty conditions, her teammates’ chances at medalist honors blew away quickly.

Senior Chonlada Chayanun was in a threeway tie for the lead entering the final round, but a closing score of 81 derailed her chances for a maiden victory.

“I didn’t play that good today. I think it was because of my mentality,” Chayanun said. “I’m not really that good at playing with the wind. I could get to the green, but my putting was pretty bad.”

A balky putter and mounting frustration from the tough playing conditions snowballed into a back nine that saw her record three double-bogies in her final five holes to finish in a tie for 24th place.

In that same stretch in the first round, Chayanun made three birdies.

Despite her final-round misfortunes, Chayanun said her confidence moving forward is unshaken.

“I thought I played great, I just had a tough day today,” Chayanun said. “Overall, I still feel like I can play better this [next] tournament. It doesn’t affect my confidence.”

Fortunately for Chayanun and the Cyclones, they will have a chance to put the UCF Challenge in their rearview mirror quickly with their next event arriving Feb. 15 at the Puerto Rico Lady Classic.

“We have our mistakes in mind and we are right there for the next tournament, so we can try to change what we did wrong,” Barquin said. “I would rather play three weeks in a row and have two weeks for rest instead of playing one every other week. I think it will be good for us.”

If the winds pick up again in San Juan next week, Barquin might be sought after for lessons.

“She has to teach me how to play in the wind,” Chayanun said. “That [round] was amazing.”