Overton ranked No. 1 college golfer

IU junior Jeff Overton did not win a golf tournament in his first two years as a member of the IU men's golf team. But the coaching staff still saw potential in the quiet Evansville, Ind., native. \nThis fall, Overton lived up to that potential when he won all four tournaments the Hoosiers participated in earning a great deal of attention, including the No. 1 ranking in the country.\nIt seemed every tournament in which Overton teed up, he broke some kind of record. At the Northern Intercollegiate, Overton tied his career 36-hole low score of 136 en route to his first collegiate victory. Next at the Hoosier Invitational Sept. 27-28, he finished with a 10-under-par 203 -- a school record for 54 holes. \nThe following week, that record fell as Overton shot 199 at the 49ers Collegiate Classic. The final tournament of the season, the Xavier Invitational, was cut short due to rain, but Overton was still able to set a new career 36-hole low score of 130.\nOverton's record-breaking performances were bound to draw attention. The victory at the Northern Intercollegiate made GolfWorld magazine take notice. The publication named him "Golfer of the Week" in its Sept. 26 issue. After winning the Hoosier Invitational, Overton was ranked No. 4 in the nation, and by the start of the Xavier Invitational, Overton was ranked No. 2. Now, Golfstat has Overton ranked as the No. 1 collegiate golfer in the country.\nWhile Overton is honored to have the ranking, he said he still has work ahead of him.\n"It's nice being ranked No. 1 in the country," Overton said. "It's a great honor. But at the same time, there's a lot of work to be done. There will be some rough times in the spring. Tiger Woods will shoot 80 again. I'm sure I'll shoot 80 again. It's just a matter of dealing with your bad experiences and making the good experiences as good as you can get them to be."\nIU men's golf coach Mike Mayer said he always thought Overton had this kind of potential, and he's pleased with how Overton has progressed.\n"Of all the players I've recruited, I always felt he had the ability to shoot those low numbers, which is a rarity out there," Mayer said. "In high school, he did it, but this is not high school golf. And it took him a while to make the transition to this level."\nOverton's long-awaited breakthrough is rooted in strong performances this summer. He earned medalist honors at the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, and he won the stroke play portion by seven strokes, tying a USGA record for 36 holes by shooting a 10-under-par 132. \nBut the biggest breakthrough for Overton came at the Indiana State Amateur Championship in which Overton shot a 64 in the final round of the tournament and won by 12 strokes. The win gave him plenty of confidence in his game and helped him break through this fall.\n"This summer, he finally won the state amateur and got the taste of winning again, to know what it felt like," IU assistant coach Josh Brewer said. "And now, who knows? I hope he never tastes defeat. He will eventually because that's just that nature of the beast. But the guy has so much confidence. He expects to shoot 67 or 68. He just had to get over that little hurdle. He had to win a tournament."\nOverton said his experience has helped his confidence and has allowed him to mature as a player.\n"Over the summer, I realized that I could play with everybody at this level. My freshman year, I first came in here and I knew I had the talent, but I was just kind of scared," Overton said. "Here at Indiana, my confidence has gotten pretty high. And that's something that makes a great athlete is somebody that has a lot of confidence in themselves."\nConfidence was important to the development of Overton's game, but it was not the only factor. A solid work ethic, love of golf, more patience and better decision-making on the course has also helped. \n"Jeff loves to practice, he loves to play, he loves to pound golf balls at the range, he loves to pitch and putt, he's always loved to do that. But I think he works a little more on what he needs to work on instead of just freewheeling it so much," Mayer said. \nMayer added that since Overton's first two years on the team he has continued to play aggressively, but now he chooses his battles more wisely.\n"Freshman and sophomore year, (Jeff) would go to everything and see there is nothing he couldn't do on a golf course," Mayer said. "He's a little smarter when he goes at something and when he lays back from something, when he attacks the pin, when he hits the middle of the green. All that stuff adds up."\nThe men's golf team concluded its fall season with three consecutive first place finishes. The Hoosiers open the spring season in February at the UCF/Rio Pinar Intercollegiate in Orlando, Fla. During the break, Overton and the Hoosiers will prepare to try to continue winning. Thanks to a strong fall campaign, the team has high hopes for the spring, and Mayer believes that Overton will continue to lead the way.\n"Hopefully, he can retain that mental edge he has right now. I'm sure he will be able to do that," Mayer said. "I would suspect that we'll start off with our first tournament in February, and Jeff will just pick up right where he left off."\n-- Contact staff writer Charlie Gillingham at cgilling@indiana.edu.