Click here to listen to pre-season interview with Head Coach Jarvis Weber

The Iowa Lakes golf team is looking to take the course Friday March 26th for the Graceland University Spring Invitational in Maryville, MO. Head Coach Jarvis Weber, is in his fourth full season with the Iowa Lakes golf program. In his time at Iowa Lakes, the Lakers have consistently had the men's team ranked in the top 20 and the women's team in the top 12 in the country. The Lakers routinely send three to five female athletes to the national tournament and have been just missing on the men's team qualifying. Since becoming the coach, Jarvis Weber has won five men's tournaments and five women's tournaments.

When asked about the accomplishments achieved at Iowa Lakes, Coach Weber responded, "We focus on a simple approach to the game, and I stress individual development. Each player is completely different and needs to be treated as such. I push for a higher golf IQ and greater understanding of the swing mechanics and management style around the course to make our players think a little more to save strokes."

The Lakers have two current sophomores leading the team, Dawson Weber from Welcome, MN, on the men's side and Kelly Winter from Earlville, IA, on the women's side. The Lakers lost many sophomores and talent last year on both sides. On the men's side, James Preston continued his academic and athletic career at Southeastern University in Florida (top 20 NAIA), Addison Bahr continued to Mars Hill University in North Carolina (NCAA D2), Luke Sladek continued to UW-Stout (NCAA D3) and Conal Downing to Christian Brother's University in Tennessee (NCAA D2). On the women's side Erin Baum transferred to Midland University (NAIA) in Nebraska and Abby Stender went to the University of Minnesota-Crookston (NCAA D2).

When asked about the areas in which the team could improve Coach Weber responded by saying, "Golf is a game of always needing to improve on all facets of your skill set. Biggest area of growth for this team is gaining experience, which takes time. All of the current players did not get their spring season last year, so they missed out on that time of development. We need to stay patient and trust the process. Focusing on each person's weaknesses with drills and practice helps to keep our bad days better and make us more consistent when we may not have our A game."

The ICCAC is becoming a very strong conference on both the men's and women's side. Men's side Kirkwood leads the charge, followed by DMACC and Iowa Central. Coach Weber believes Hawkeye has a strong group this year as well as Northeast CC in Nebraska. There are currently 6 teams in the top 20 in the country from the ICCAC, with Iowa Lakes currently ranked #12. The women's side is no different. Iowa Western continues to be the team to beat at the regional tournament. The ICCAC currently has four of the top 12 teams in the rankings. Iowa Lakes is currently ranked #9.

The Lakers are looking forward to competing this season. The Lakers golf team has not faced many changes regarding their schedule.

Coach Weber explained, "Most of our schedule looks the same as previous years. Golf is unique in that being outside and spaced out, COVID has not changed much in how we actually compete, and the tournaments remain mostly the same. We usually will play in one tournament and then take about one week off before the next one, with the men and women alternating so I can be with each of them individually."

To end off, Coach Weber talked about what he believes his teams strengths are, in which he said, "We have a young team that is extremely eager to compete and are very confident in what they do. One of their biggest strengths as a group is their ability to learn quickly and make adjustments on the fly. Learning from what works and doesn't work is extremely important for an individual sport like golf where I may only see them two or three times during a four-five-hour round."

OTHER: Interview attached with Head Coach Jarvis Weber

20-21 Men's Roster: https://iowalakesathletics.com/sports/mgolf/2020-21/roster

20-21 Men's Schedule: https://iowalakesathletics.com/sports/mgolf/2020-21/schedule

MEDIA: For more information, please contact Head Men's & Women's Golf Coach Jarvis Weber at (712) 362-7988 or the Iowa Lakes sports information office at (712) 362-7928.