IU hopes for home advantage

The men's golf team will host the Hoosier Invitational this Saturday and Sunday at the IU Golf Course. The team's confidence remains high entering the weekend thanks to a strong showing at last weekend's Northern Intercollegiate. Junior Jeff Overton took home the individual title, and the Hoosiers took second place as a team.\n"It was great for us to get off to that kind of start," coach Mike Mayer said. "We played very solidly the whole tournament. We had very few hiccups. Obviously we fed off of Jeff Overton's play. Having somebody leading like Jeff Overton leading makes everybody a little bit more comfortable."\nThe Hoosiers have reason to be comfortable heading into the weekend. The Hoosier Invitational will be the only tournament of the year hosted by the Hoosiers. The team has had ample practice rounds on the IU Golf Course and feels that it has an advantage against its opponents.\n"Since we didn't have a tournament to start off with early in the season, it gave us a chance to get out here and play a lot more qualifying rounds," junior Heath Peters said. "So that can only help us in the long run."\n"I'd like to take a few of those rounds and just count them as our tournament rounds because we've had some great rounds on this course," Mayer said. "Sure this tournament is on our home course, and sure we have a home course advantage, there's no question about it." \nThis weekend's tournament also provides the Hoosiers with a chance to give playing time to additional team members. The Hoosiers take only five members to tournaments on the road. But this weekend, the Hoosiers will enter two teams of five and two individuals in the field. Overton, Peters, junior Mike Birkenfeld, senior Ryan Cassidy, and sophomore Oren Hodak will make up the Crimson team. The Cream squad will be made up of sophomore Scott Seibert, freshman David Butwell, sophomore Brad Marek, junior Rob Ockenfuss, and junior Aaron Walters. Senior Kirk Wood and freshmen Tad Sacheck will compete as individuals this weekend. Having additional players gives other Hoosier golfers a chance to strengthen their game.\n"I think it's going to be great because there have been a lot of players who have worked really hard, but haven't gotten the physical side of their golf games down," Overton said. "Playing in tournaments allows you to understand your physical strengths and weaknesses. So allowing more people to play in this tournament is going to benefit everybody."\nBut getting extra work in is not the only thing the Hoosiers have in mind. With two teams in the field, the Hoosiers want to take first and second place at this weekend's tournament.\n"We always set pretty lofty goals," Mayer said. "Our goal is to finish one-two. Obviously we have a subset of goals from that. We want to win this golf tournament. We need that win. We've been knocking on that door as a team.\n"Our goals are always to go out there and play the best golf we can. We need to be physically ready and mentally ready, and I feel we're going to be that way. The rest has to take care of itself."\nThe Hoosier Invitational begins on Saturday at the IU Golf Course with an 8:00 a.m. shotgun start and 36 holes of play. The tournament ends with a final 18 holes of play on Sunday with an 8:30 a.m. start. \n-- Contact staff writer Charlie Gillingham at cgilling@indiana.edu.