There is no question about it.

The Iowa men’s golf team is a force to be reckoned with, and the Hawkeyes are not going to be a fun opponent for opposing schools anytime in the near future.

After finishing very strong in the spring — placing 17th in the NCAA championships in May — there was a lingering question regarding whether the team could not only continue its success but build on it.

The Hawkeyes put any doubts to rest on Tuesday when they placed second at the inaugural Golfweek Conference Challenge at Blue Top Ridge in Riverside.

Head coach Mark Hankins said a top-five finish in the 15-team field would have been a success before the start of the tournament, and he was a right.

In a field consisting of 15 team from 15 different conferences, a top-five finish should be deemed as respectable.

But after day two of the 54-hole event, the Hawkeyes found themselves in new territory — alone in first place, four strokes ahead of Golfweek’s No. 29 team, Florida State.

Though Iowa wasn’t able to hold on to the lead on the final day, the Hawkeyes proved they can contend with any team in the country after its performance at the very tough Blue Top Ridge.

Florida State head coach Trey Jones said he already knew about Iowa’s potential, because the Seminoles finished behind the Hawkeyes in the NCAA Southwest Regional in May, when Iowa claimed the final spot to earn a trip to the NCAA championships.

“To beat a team as talented and as well-coached as Iowa was a great thrill,” Jones said. “Our guys made a few putts, and they didn’t. It just as easily could have gone the other way around.”

But no golf team is successful without great individual talent. A team cannot contend for a tournament title if it doesn’t get five solid individual performances.

After losing the Hawks’ leader, Cole Peevler, to graduation, Hankins has been looking for someone to pick up the leadership mantle, which is why the role of captain is still vacant.

The Hawkeyes may have found just the right person for that slot in junior Brad Hopfinger.

Hopfinger, whose 67 set the Blue Top Ridge competitive scoring record on Monday, went toe to toe with Florida State’s Drew Kittleson to compete for the tournament’s individual title on the final day.

For those who do not know (and I’m sure that is most of you), Kittleson placed second in the 2008 U.S. Amateur championship and participated in the 2009 Master’s.

Hopfinger and Kittleson were tied going to the 18th tee, and Hopfinger’s tee shot sailed far left into some heavy rough. But the Deerfield, Ill., native gritted his teeth and was able to sink a clutch putt for par to share the individual title with the Seminole.

That kind of gritty performance is something that cannot be taught, and the Hawkeyes are very fortunate to have a player who can perform under that kind of pressure.

The rest of the squad isn’t too shabby either. Junior Vince India won the Iowa Open the previous weekend at Blue Top Ridge and held the previous course record.

Sophomore Barrett Kelpin and freshman Ryan Marks qualified for the 2009 U.S. Amateur championship, and Kelpin missed the cut for match play by only one stroke.

And did I mention this team has no seniors?

With the experience the Hawkeyes already have — four players on the current roster competed at the NCAA championships — and the amount of time many of them have left in Iowa City, settling for just a top-five finish might soon become a thing of the past.