Players face diverse field in tournament

The men\'s golf team is in Scarsdale, N.Y. to compete in the 36-hole Tillinghast today and Tuesday. It is the first time the Hoosiers will be playing in the tournament hosted by St. John\'s University.\nThe Tillinghast\'s field consists of 24 teams including IU and St. John\'s.\nCoach Mike Mayer is particularly pleased with the diversity of the tournament, which features a variety of teams from the east coast and the Midwest.\n"It's a very diverse field," Mayer said. "There's a lot of teams that we don't ever get a chance to compete against."\nMayer shuffled the lineup this week to send a more experienced team into a field with perennial NCAA contenders in the form of Texas-El Paso, Texas-Arlington, Maryland, Minnesota, Northwestern and Penn State. Senior Rich Thomas will join juniors Bret Hardin and Ben Davidson and freshmen Heath Peters and Rob Ockenfuss. Mayer looks for Davidson to emerge as a leader in the meet.\n"Ben Davidson has been the surprise I've wanted him to be," Mayer said. "We won't be as good as we can be if he's not in the lineup."\nThomas was a late addition to the lineup to take place of injured junior Aldo Jordan. IU's lineup at the Tillinghast represents the first time since the season-opening Badger Invitational three freshmen have not been present in the lineup. It is the first tournament of the year for Thomas, who has a career average of 77.6 in 59 rounds. \nThe Tillinghast is played at Quaker Ridge Golf Club, host of the 1997 Walker Cup, a tournament played in by former IU golfer Randy Leen. Quaker Ridge is down the road from the famed Winged Foot Golf Club, which hosted the U.S. Open in 1929, 1959, 1974 and 1984. Quaker Ridge has begun to develop a solid pedigree of its own.\n"It's the best course we will play on all year," Mayer said. "Many people believe it is the better of the two (Quaker Ridge and Winged Foot)."\nEven more excited about the prospect of playing Quaker Ridge are the players. \n"It will be a great experience to go to New York," Hardin said, who is back in the lineup after playing as an individual in the Xavier Provident Invitational. "This is a great tournament to get back into the lineup for"