Lea Zeitler has only played for the Iowa women’s golf team for three years. In that short period of time, the junior from Austria has competed against some of the stiffest competition collegiate golf has to offer.

At times, Zeitler has fared well. She’s also struggled to find her rhythm at different points in her career.

Zeitler competed in five events as a freshman in 2019-20, finishing in the top 25 of each tournament. She even registered two top-10s.

Zeitler was named Big Ten Women’s Golfer of the Week twice as a freshman. After one season at Iowa, her 18-hole scoring average was 73.1 — the third-best any Iowa women’s golfer had ever posted.

Zeitler broke the Iowa women’s golf program’s 18-hole scoring record with a 66 at the 2021 Rebel Beach Invitational. The performance helped her earn her third career Big Ten Women’s Golfer of the Week honor.

At the time, Zeitler’s performance at the 2021 Rebel Beach Invitational seemed to indicate that she was due for an impressive sophomore season. That was not the case.

Zeitler recorded just two top-10 finishes in 2020-21, counting her runner-up outing at the Rebel Beach Invitational.

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Since the 2021 Rebel Beach Invitational, Zeitler has participated in 10 stroke-play tournaments, placing outside the top 40 on eight occasions.

During that time, Zeitler’s 18-hole scoring average has increased by more than four shots.

Despite her struggles, Zeitler still believes she has a reason to be optimistic. At the Big Ten Match Play Championships Jan. 31-Feb.1, Zeitler went 1-1-1.

“I feel [my game is] heading in the right direction,” Zeitler told The Daily Iowan on Feb. 10. “I mean, it’s a pretty long process. I just need to stay patient and try to figure a few things out that haven’t been as good. But I feel like, if I just stick to my [swing] thoughts and kind of keep playing and keep getting the confidence off the tournaments, I think that’s gonna be good for this spring.”

Zeitler’s slow improvement hasn’t come without sacrifice. Her teammate, junior Morgan Goldstein, said Zeitler has been “working her butt off” in practice. Iowa head coach Megan Menzel has called Zeitler “the strongest worker on the team.”

While her teammates and coaches have praised her work ethic, Zeitler thinks she’s playing better this season because she’s focused on balancing on-course training with off-grounds relaxation.

“I feel like, for me, it’s just kind of balancing the lifestyle a bit more,” Zeitler said. “I tend to be very focused and put a lot of energy towards things and rarely kind of take a step back and relax for myself. The key, for me, is to make sure I know what I’m doing, that I’m doing the right things, and I’m not pushing myself too hard every single day. I think that’s what I’ve really learned in the past couple of years and was kind of gonna be the key, I think, for the next few years to come.”