This weekend, the men’s golf team will travel to the Arizona Dual. Coming off an eighth-place finish at the Big Ten Match Play Championship, the Hawkeyes want to get the spring season on track.

The Hawkeyes will send juniors Raymond Knoll and Carson Schaake, seniors Nate Yankovich and Voramate Aussarassakorn, and freshmen Matthew Walker and Aaron DeNucci to Arizona.

In the first competition of the season, the Feb. 12-13 Big Ten Match Play, the Hawkeyes defeated Nebraska in first round but then fell to Purdue in the second round and lost to Michigan in the third round and tied the Wolverines in the seventh-place match.

“The guys put in a ton of work preparing for this weekend, so we’re understandably disappointed with a 1-2-1 team record,” Iowa head coach Tyler Stith said in a release. “Individually, however, we showed much improvement in several facets of the game.”

It came in Iowa’s third-round match against Michigan. Walker picked up Iowa’s lone win, posting a 2-and-1 victory over Michigan’s Andrew Yeager.

Iowa put in a solid performance in the final match of the tournament. They won three matches in its seven-place match with Michigan, including another win from Walker. The Ottumwa native defeated Nick Carlson, 4-and-2. Unfortunately Iowa’s three wins was only enough for a tie. Michigan won the match on a tiebreaker.

On a positive note Walker was one of six golfers to finish with 4-0 record in the tournament.

“Matthew played outstanding in his first Big Ten Match Play tournament,” Stith said in a release. “He set a goal to go undefeated and came up with four big wins.”

Iowa’s second victory came from Schaake. The Omaha native ended the weekend with a 1-2-1 record.

Aussarassakorn earned Iowa’s final win against Michigan with his second victory for tournament, posting a 1-up win over Michigan’s Reed Hrynewich.

Even with the rough start, one thing the Hawkeyes will learn from the Big Ten Match Play is that experience is crucial in the early goings of the season.

“The spring season is a long journey,” Stith said in a release. “We gained experience this weekend, hitting shots under pressure and holding big putts will benefit us for the rest of the season.”