Hoosiers start spring season in Orlando

The IU men's golf team will return to competition today at the UCF/Rio Pinar Invitational in Orlando, Fla. The 18-team invitational marks the opening of the spring season for the Hoosiers, who are hoping to continue the success the fall season brought them. The Hoosiers closed out the 2003 fall season with three consecutive tournament titles and four consecutive first place finishes for junior Jeff Overton. Such performances have garnered the Hoosiers national attention. \nThe team will enter the UCF/Rio Pinar Invitational ranked No. 19 by Golfstat, who administers computer ratings for NCAA golf programs. Overton is ranked No. 1, but the Hoosiers know they cannot rest on their laurels. Most of the Hoosiers' 17 opponents this week are from the south and have had the benefit of good golf weather between the fall and spring seasons. But IU coach Mike Mayer said his team is ready and will not be intimidated by the southern schools.\n"We worked extremely hard this winter on our physical strength, mental and emotional strength. We are ready to go." Mayer said. "Being a Midwestern school, we've had weather to deal with. Some schools may have slight advantage over us in that regard. But there will be no excuses for weather. We feel we are ready to go down there and compete with those southern schools."\nMayer's team also believes it will have a good showing. Through the winter, the Hoosiers have worked on fine-tuning their swings indoors and being in the right physical and mental condition, and their confidence remains high.\n"We've been practicing hard since we've been back. Everyone's in better shape than we were last fall, everyone's ready to go," freshman David Butwell said. "We want to win."\nThe Hoosiers won their final three tournaments in the fall season, and now they hope that success will carry over to a quick start in the spring. Overton thinks a strong showing in the first tournament of the season could be very helpful for the Hoosiers.\n"It's always important to go out and try to win every tournament. We know how to win, and I think it would be really nice to win the tournament this week because as you win more, you become more and more confident with yourself," Overton said.\nThe Hoosiers will feature a strong starting lineup of Overton, Butwell, senior Ryan Cassidy, juniors Mike Birkenfeld and Heath Peters. All but Butwell have finished in the top 10 at least once. And Cassidy, Birkenfeld and Overton have all had at least one top-five finish. \nThe UCF/Rio Pinar Invitational begins with 36 holes of continuous play after an 8 a.m. shotgun start today. The final round will be played at 8 a.m. Tuesday. After the Invitational, the Hoosiers will continue their warm weather tour by competing in the St. Croix Collegiate Classic in St. Croix, Virgin Islands March 5 and 6. \n-- Contact staff writer Charlie Gillingham at cgilling@indiana.edu.