“I’m hoping each week builds on for the next week,” Puryear said. “I think the guys are ready now, but we need four guys to play four really good rounds of golf. If we play beneath our best, we won’t win.”

The Spartans’ victory at their home meet last weekend can’t legitimately be classified simply as a win — it’s better described as complete domination.

MSU won by 33 strokes and three Spartans finished in the top three.

Sophomore Payne Gniewek, who won the individual crown at the Fossum/Spartan Invitational, said the dominating win has the team playing with a new sense of confidence.

“If we play like we did this week, we will have a really good chance of winning,” Gniewek said. “This is our favorite time of the year. This is what we work up to and this week is what our season has been about. I think the team is pretty hyped.”

The Spartans are expecting much more stringent competition this weekend from the Big Ten Tournament, as both Indiana and Illinois are ranked among the top-20 teams in the country.

“Big Ten golf is pretty good right now,” Puryear said. “This might be one of the closest Big Tens ever.”

The tournament will be held at Penn State, a course the Spartans didn’t play this season.

But Puryear said he expects the conditions at the unfamiliar course to mirror what his team was up against at Forest Akers West Golf Course last weekend.

“Every guy met some adversity on our course,” Puryear said. “I think it was just a great preparation for what we’re about to do.”

Junior Jack Newman said his expectations for the team are the same as they were for their home tournament.

“Our expectations are to get a win,” Newman said. “I think it’s feasible with our team.”

Cracking the lineup

Freshman Jimmy Dewling made his college debut at the Fossum/Spartan Invitational and finished in fifth place individually.

His solid performance earned him a spot with the starters this weekend in the No. 5 slot for the team.

“This spring, his game has got a lot better,” Newman said. “He’s getting a lot more confident and hopefully with that and the support of all of us he will be comfortable enough to come out and play well.”

Puryear said he is counting on Dewling to put forth a good score to help the team this weekend.

“I know Jimmy can make a lot of birdies,” Puryear said. “He can potentially be a really good player at MSU one day and this week he showed he has the ability.”