GOLF: Cyclones finish in top 20 at nationals

The following is a press release courtesy of Iowa State athletics communications. 

STILLWATER, Okla. – The Iowa State men’s golf team finished the 54-hole stroke play portion of the 2018 NCAA Championship in a tie for 19th place (891) after firing a 299 in the third round this afternoon at the Karsten Creek Golf Club.

It marks the second season in a row the Cyclones placed in the top-20 at the NCAA Championships.

“One of our goals for this program is to be a top-25 program consistently and we’ve managed to have two great finishes at the NCAA Championships the last two years,” Iowa State head coach Andrew Tank said. “I’m really proud of the guys and it’s really been a great season.”

The top 15 teams will play another stroke play round tomorrow to determine the eight teams in the match play competition, May 29-30.

Duke is the current team leader at 854, three shots ahead of Oklahoma State (857).

The Cyclones were led this afternoon by Tripp Kinney, who carded an even-par 72 to give him a three-round 223 tally (T68). Kinney was 2-under through nine holes before suffering bogeys on holes 9 and 10. He then finished with pars on the final seven holes.

“Tripp was solid today,” Tank said. “He got off to a great start and made a lot of pars coming in on some really difficult holes. I’m really happy he stepped up today and it was a big round for us.”

Freshman Lachlan Barker was the Cyclones’ low scorer during the tournament, firing rounds of 69-78-74 to tie for 50th at 221.

Senior Denzel Iereima concluded his outstanding Cyclone career at the NCAA Championships. He carded a final-round 75 to finish the championship at 222 (T57).

Sam Vincent closed out the tournament with a 78, but showed much resiliency by going 1-under on the back nine. He finished the tournament at 230 to tie for 123rd.

Freshman Frank Lindwall posted a 226 at his first NCAA Championships. He posted a final-round 79 to tie for 89th.

It was another fantastic season for the Cyclones, making the NCAA finals for the third time (2014, 2017, 2018) in the last five seasons. ISU’s late-season surge was the reason, tying for fourth at the Big 12 Championship, a conference that had seven teams here this week, and finishing third at the NCAA Stockton Regional.

The program will bid farewell to the senior Ieremia, who established himself as one of the greatest players in school history. His career 72.57 stroke average ranks third in school history and his 13 career top-10s is tied for sixth in school history.

“Denzel has been a program changer,” said Tank. “He was a great leader and teammate. If you look at the results of our program since Denzel arrived, we have just skyrocketed, and he’s played a big role in that.”

Team Scores

1. Duke – 291-287-276= 854
2. Oklahoma State – 287-285-285 = 857
3. Texas Tech – 284-287-290 = 861
4. Vanderbilt – 287-292-287 = 866
5. Oklahoma – 285-293-290 = 868
6. Auburn – 300 -280-290 = 870
7. Texas A&M – 293 -289-289 = 871
8. Kent State – 288-291-293 = 872
9. Alabama – 294-279-301 = 874
10. Texas – 289-291-295 = 875
11. Arkansas – 296-289-291= 876
12. Clemson – 285-294-299 = 878
13. Arizona State – 296-289-295 = 880
14. Illinois – 289-291-301 = 881
15. North Carolina – 296-289-297 = 882
16. Stanford – 292-295-297 = 884
Northwestern – 280-308-296 = 884
18. Florida – 300-286-300 = 886
19. Iowa State – 290-302-299 = 891
      UNLV – 297-293-301 = 891
21. Kentucky – 292-297-303 = 892
UCLA – 295-297-300 = 892
23. Kansas – 295-302-297 = 894
24. NC State – 292-303-301 = 896
25. UCF – 291-299-307 = 897
Brigham Young – 289-296-312 = 897
27. Oregon – 296-300-303 = 899
28. North Florida – 293-302-307 = 902
29. Augusta – 298-300-306 = 904
30. Baylor – 297-298-315 = 910

Iowa State Scores
T50. Lachlan Barker – 69-78-74 = 221
T57. Denzel Ieremia – 73-74-75 = 222
T68. Tripp Kinney – 74-77-72 = 223
T89. Frank Lindwall – 74-73-79 = 226
T123. Sam Vincent – 74-78-78 = 230

Top Individuals
1. Bryson Nimmer (Clemson) – 64-75-68 = 207
2. Brandon Mancheno (Auburn) – 72-66-71 = 209
3. Three tied at 210