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23 I t's May and the Big Ten Men's Golf Championships have come and gone. e Hawkeyes finished in third place — an outcome that appears to have become automatic in recent years. In Tyler Stith's first four years as head coach, Iowa has never finished worse than fourth in the conference tournament. at streak looked to be in jeopardy for this year's Hawkeye team that struggled to close out tournaments and put together three solid rounds throughout the 2017- 18 season. But there was no panic for the young Hawkeye team that features only one senior in Sam Meruet. In fact, the team finished with a bang. "We were disappointed with how the spring season started," Meuret said. "As a team, we all committed to having a better rest of the season. It's showed in the last month, especially at the Big Ten Championships." Sophomore Alex Schaake, who was third on the team and tied for 18th at the Big Ten Championships, was disappointed with his individual play, but pleased with the team's performance. "To get no worse than fourth as a team at Big Ten's is awesome," Schaake said. "It seems like we start playing well near the end of the year and no better place to play well than Big Ten's. Obviously, we are chasing that Big Ten title every year, but to see improvement from tournament to tournament is a good sign." April was where the team began to see growth. Iowa finished second at its home event, the Hawkeye Invitational, and followed that with a sixth-place finish at Ohio State's Robert Kepler Intercollegiate. ose two tournaments were steps in the right direction that set the Hawkeyes up nicely for Big Ten's, which offer a heightened level of competition. "We always look forward to the Big Ten Championships," said junior Matthew Walker. "We come in expecting to compete and look forward to trying to surpass the teams ranked higher than us." Walker had a tough final round at Baltimore, full of bad breaks and intense winds, but he knows how hungry his teammates and coaches are to compete with top teams. "As for our program, it shows what we are made of," Walker said. "When the pressure gets up, we rise to the challenge. (It's a) great group of guys and coaches not expecting anything else." e three-day tournament was a complete team performance with all five Hawkeyes finishing inside the top 31 and Benton Weinberg tied for eighth. Iowa carded an 859 to finish behind Illinois (836) and Ohio State (851). Schaake's goal is to contend with Big Ten powerhouse Illinois and eventually win a Big Ten title in his remaining two years at Iowa. "e reason we play well at the Big Ten Championships is because of the tournament itself," Schaake said. "It's a different feel than a regular one and I think we thrive on the opportunity to do something great." Stith's scheduling philosophy has paid off in the last four years and helped Iowa peak when it matters most.