Golfers confident playing top-notch Ohio course

Akron, Ohio, is known as the "Rubber Capital of the World." It is also home of the well-respected Firestone Country Club, host of the FirstEnergy Intercollegiate. IU will play in the 54-hole tourney Saturday and Sunday.\nThe Hoosiers will play in Ohio at a course with a championship pedigree for the second-straight week. Last week, it was the Ohio State Scarlet course, where IU finished in sixth place at the site of the 2002 NCAA Championships. This week, the Hoosiers will try to tame the Robert Trent Jones-designed Firestone South course. The Firestone North course annually holds the PGA TOUR's World Golf Championships NEC Invitational. \nIU men's golf coach Mike Mayer said the lengthy course, which is a 7,060-yard, par-72 setup, will play to the Hoosiers' strengths.\n"The ability to hit the ball off the tee is one of our strengths," Mayer said. "We're going to need to hit the ball a long a long way (on this course)."\nThe 18-team field features an abundance of teams from the Mid-American Conference, including tournament host Akron and No. 13 Toledo. Other Big Ten teams in the field are Iowa, Penn State and Wisconsin. With Toledo among the ranks of the teams that IU beat at the Kepler Intercollegiate last week, Mayer is confident the Hoosiers can take home the top prize.\n"This is the first time in a while where we're with the attitude that we can win this tournament," Mayer said.\nFor Mayer, the winning lineup consists of juniors Ben Davidson and Aldo Jordan and freshmen Jeff Overton, Heath Peters and Rob Ockenfuss. Junior Brett Hardin will compete in the event as an individual. His scores won't count toward the team total. \nDavidson, Overton and Peters have been swinging the hottest clubs in the lineup as of late. Overton posted a 3-under-par 68 in the final round of the Kepler Intercollegiate, and his average of 75 leads the team. However, Davidson (75.1 avg.) and Peters (75.2 avg.) have played well enough this spring to keep on Overton's tail.\nBut Mayer will be looking for the other two golfers in the lineup, Jordan and Ockenfuss, to produce this weekend.\n"This is an important tournament for Aldo and Rob," Mayer said.\nIn Mayer's mind, Jordan has not been 100 percent since an automobile accident that cut his fall season short. Ockenfuss shot an 86 in the first round last week before recovering for a 75 in the final round. \nJordan said that the team's performance last week has motivated the Hoosiers.\n"It's awesome when someone shoots a 68 like that," Jordan said. "But you feel bad that you aren't contributing as much to the team."\nIt will help IU to have someone leading the tournament, which is vital to the team's chances of being invited to the NCAA Tournament. Mayer doesn't think a win would solidify a tournament bid for the Hoosiers but knows they must have a good finish to have a chance.\n"We've really put our backs up to the wall," Mayer said. "We got some attention for what we did last week, and a good performance this week sets us up for the Fossum Spartan (Invitational) next week"