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Iowa State University Athletics
ISU Gears Up For Big 12 Championships
04.20.2010 | Men's Golf
AMES, Iowa ? The Iowa State men's golf team is aiming for a strong finish at the 2010 Big 12 Championships, April 23-25 at the Whispering Pines Golf Club in Trinity, Texas.
Whispering Pines, a challenging 7,840-yard layout, which was ranked as the No. 1 course in Texas by the Dallas Morning News, is hosting the Big 12 Championships for the third time (2005, 2008, 2010). ISU will bring a young lineup to Texas, featuring two sophomores (Tom Lathrop, Nate McCoy), two juniors (Nathan Leary, Jacob Aaholm) and one senior (Ben Herrera). ISU head men's golf coach Jay Horton knows that Whispering Pines will offer quite a challenge to his young squad.
“We've been to Whispering Pines before and it's an unbelievable facility,” Horton said. “It's a great golf course that's definitely worthy of a major championship like the Big 12 Championship. It will be a great experience for our kids to go down there and play it.”
As usual, the Big 12 is arguably the best conference alignment in college golf again this year. In the latest Golfstat rankings, the Big 12 has three teams ranked in the top-10, including the nation's top-ranked team Oklahoma State.
The Cyclones are ranked 84th nationally by Golfstat, which is a pretty solid rating. ISU will be the ninth seed this weekend, however Horton still has confidence his team can make a splash at the conference tournament.
“We are excited about going down there and playing well,” Horton said. “This whole year seems like it has been a bunch of near misses. We have contended and we've had a chance to win every tournament this spring, but we haven't quite gotten it done in the final round. I just don't think we've played our best tournament yet and based on how we've practiced and based on how we have come along this whole spring, signs point to this being a week where we could break out and have some success.”
If ISU doesn't make NCAA competition as a team, there is a great chance a Cyclone will be a part of the postseason. Herrera, a senior from Urbandale, Iowa, is having a phenomenal final campaign for the Cyclones.
Herrera showed a glimpse of his improved play in the summer when he demolished the field at the 2009 Iowa Amateur by a whopping 10 shots. He's continued his dominance this season where he is currently ranked No. 113 in the Golfstat individual men's ratings.
In 10 tournaments this year, Herrera has finished in the top-11 seven times en route to a team-low 72.10 stroke average. His career scoring clip of 72.89 is on pace to become the best all-time average in school history. Herrera also has a team-best eight sub-70 rounds this year, including six in the final round.
Horton feels a strong showing at the Big 12 Championships would solidify Herrera as the fourth Cyclone to earn an individual berth to an NCAA Regional (Jim Webb, 1990; Jeremy Lyons, 2004; Chris Baker, 2008).
“Ben has had a great senior season and he has improved every year he has been here,” said Horton. “He plays with a certain sense of confidence and certain sense of maturity. He has a lot of intelligence when he plays out there and a lot of belief in what he can do. The way he is playing and practicing and with his experience and success on the golf course, I'm confident he can go down to the Big 12 and contend.”
“It's been a goal of his and a goal for this team to make Regionals,” Horton added. “You always want to go as a team and take everyone there as a team. If you can't do that, then the next best thing is to play in it yourself. I know that ever since Ben has been here, he has wanted to compete and play in an NCAA tournament and he is definitely set up for a shot to be able to go do it.”
The pleasant warm weather in Iowa the past couple of weeks has given the Cyclones a positive outlook and ample practice opportunities. Horton is hoping this spells success at Whispering Pines.
“We have the talent to do some amazing things if we play well,” Horton added. “With the Big 12 the way it is, every team is good and capable of doing that. Where you finish is completely up in the air. If we compete as well as we possibly can, good things could easily happen.”
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