Iowa State Tees Up in Mexico

AMES, Iowa ? The Iowa State men's golf team will hit the links in Mexico when it debuts the spring season at the GADO North Texas Classic Feb. 18-19 in Guadalajara. The tournament will consist of a 10-team field including five opponents the Cyclones faced in fall competition. Teams will play 36 holes Sunday followed by a round of 18 on Monday at the par 72, 6,900 yard El Palomar Country Club. ISU will be competing in Mexico to break in the new year for the second straight season.

“Everybody is real excited after the break but they needed it after competing since February,” head coach Jay Horton said. “It is our first tournament and we will be knocking off a little rust to get that same feel again.”

Iowa State is coming off a fall season where it collected victories at the Wolf Pack Classic and Big Four Championship and a runner-up finish at the Kansas Invitational. Junior Joe Cermak led the team in scoring average with a 72.50 mark in five events.

The Cyclones mounted a 5-0 record against North Texas, Houston, Iowa, Louisiana-Lafayette and UMKC in the fall season. ISU defeated Iowa at the Big Four Championship and toppled the other four competitors at the Kansas Invitational.

“It's not necessarily about worrying about other teams but about playing against ourselves,” Horton said. “My main goal is just to see that we can improve on each round.”

Seven schools are making return appearances from last year's North Texas Classic where Houston won the team title with a three-round total of 865. ISU placed 11th out of 11 teams with a three-round score of 922.

Iowa State will be in action again Feb. 26-27 at the All-American Invitational in Houston, Texas.

Event Notables
- Houston senior Pablo Acuan returns to defend medalist honors from last year's North Texas Classic; Cougar senior Ricky Romano was seventh
-Indiana's reigning Big Ten Newcomer of the Year in 2006, Jorge Campillo, was runner-up from last year's North Texas Classic
-Campillo is the highest nationally-ranked golfer in the field, 23rd in Golfweek's Feb. 11 rankings
-Five competitors placed in the top-10 at the Kansas Invitational, Houston's Jordan Irwin (2nd), Romano (4th), UMKC's Alex Hogben (T7th), North Texas' Cole Howard (T7th) and Louisiana-Lafayette's Devin Carrey (T7th); Cameron White and Joe Cermak were Iowa State's top finishers, tying for 14th
-The Hoosiers are the top-ranked team at 58th in Golfweek's Feb. 11 rankings followed by Houston (61st) and Iowa State (76th)

Competing Teams
Arkansas-Little Rock
Cal State Northridge
Houston
Indiana
Iowa
Iowa State
Louisiana-Lafayette
Middle Tennessee
North Texas
UMKC