The Ball State men's golf team got off to a shaky start at the beginning of the season, averaging a finish slightly behind the middle of the pack.
Since then, the Cardinals have taken steps forward, placing second of eight at the Fighting Irish Golf Classic and sixth of 17 at the Firestone Invitational.
From the coaching staff to the players, the Cardinals know just how good they can be.
"It's just a matter of time before we all start playing good on the same day, and once that happens the sky is the limit," freshman Michael VanDeventer said. "We have a lot of talent on the team and great senior leaders that have been there before."
However, they finished just 11th out of 14th at the Sagamore Fall Preview after the final round got rained out.
Despite the inconsistent play, head coach Michael Fleck said golf is an up-and-down game.
"Even the best players in the world don't sustain it, don't stay on top throughout, so you know our goal is to try and get four or five guys on the same page every week when we're competing," Fleck said. "If we can do that, especially with the guys we have, I feel like we can get to where we wanna go."
Ball State has shown, at times, it can hang with some of the top competition that it has faced. Ball State posted two individual round scores that were as good or better than USC Aiken, the team that won the Firestone Invitational.
While Ball State couldn't match No. 1 ranked Illinois in the recent Sagamore Fall Preview, it did manage to put up a second round that was only four strokes behind No. 8 Auburn.
In the first half of the season, Ball State averaged a 298.3 first round, adding an additional 7.7 strokes in their second round, improving its score with four less strokes in the third round.
Through the second half of the season, the Cardinals' first round score has increased to 301.7. The team has managed to improve; however, its score drastically in the second round, averaging 5.7 less strokes, and even more in the third and final rounds averaging two less strokes.
If Ball State can manage to improve its first round scores, the Cardinals have potential to be amongst the top teams in the country, already putting up second and third round scores similar to currently ranked teams.
However, as in every sport, it's about more than just statistics, as the team has to believe it can compete with the best.
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