Overton wins 3rd straight award

After winning three of its first four tournaments and never finishing lower than 10th this season, the IU men's golf team has claimed its share of national recognition. Now the Hoosiers are making their mark on the international golf scene as well. \nFreshman David Butwell, a native of Southampton, England, is contributing to the lineup in his first season with a 75.33 scoring average and a low round of 72. And last week, the Hoosiers announced the signing of Santiago Quirarte, the top-ranked junior golfer in Mexico, in a letter of intent. Junior Jeff Overton also has earned his chance to make a name for himself on the international stage after being selected as a member of the United States national team Thursday. \nAs a member of Team USA, Overton will compete in the Fuji-Xerox USA vs. Japan Collegiate Golf Championship in Chiba, Japan July 13-16. Joining Overton in the eight-man squad will be Oglethorpe's Trent Erb, Kentucky's John Holmes, Chico State's J.J. Jakovac, Colorado State's Nolan Martin, Pepperdine's Michael Putnam, Minnesota's Justin Smith and California's Peter Tomasulo.\nOverton's latest honor is just another in a long list he has compiled this season including four Big Ten Golfer of the Week awards, four first place finishes, a current No. 7 ranking in the nation and being named a finalist for the Hogan Award, given to the best collegiate golfer in the country. But, instead of worrying about a trip to Japan, Overton and the rest of the Hoosiers are focusing on this weekend's regular season finale at the Fossum/Taylor Made Invitational in East Lansing, Mich.\n"Hopefully, we can go there and win," Overton said. "We just need to go up there, get off to a good start, close the deal on them this weekend, and we'll be ready for (the Big Ten Championship)."\nThe top six teams in the Midwest regional, the Hoosiers' region, all receive bids to the NCAA Tournament. The latest rankings have the Hoosiers placed sixth, three points behind fifth-place Purdue and one point ahead of seventh-place Toledo. A strong performance in this weekend's tournament would provide the Hoosiers an opportunity to gain a more secure foothold in the region before the conference tournament.\n"We just need to have strong finishes both at Michigan State and at the Big Ten Tournament," sophomore Scott Seibert said. "We're more than capable of doing that."\nOverton and fellow junior Heath Peters have led the way for the Hoosiers all season long, but the rest of the lineup has been inconsistent. IU coach Mike Mayer believes progress from the three, four and five golfers will be critical in the coming weeks.\n"We got a step closer from all three of those guys last week, but we're not quite where we need to be," Mayer said. "These next two tournaments, we have to play extremely well to stay in the hunt. We'd like to move up so we're not so much on the borderline."\n-- Contact staff writer Charlie Gillingham at cgilling@indiana.edu