Three week break beneficial for IU

After three weeks off, the IU men's golf team will return to competition Saturday at the Boilermaker Invitational in West Lafayette. It will be the team's first tournament since the Steve Kerr Invitational March 19 and 20. \nThe long break has given the Hoosiers the chance to prepare for an 18-team field featuring seven other Big Ten teams as well as No. 5 Oklahoma State, No. 9 Texas Christian, No. 18 Oklahoma and No. 24 Kentucky. The Hoosiers have faced strong fields before, but IU coach Mike Mayer said the Boilermaker Invitational may provide the team's toughest competition yet.\n"It's definitely going to give us a little bit more information on where we stand in this stage of the season, both nationally and in the conference," Mayer said. "There's no question that this is the best field to date."\nThe Hoosiers have yet to win a tournament this spring. But, after consecutive top-five finishes at the St. Croix Collegiate Classic and the Steve Kerr Invitational and a refreshing three-week break, the Hoosiers' confidence remains high going into this weekend's tournament.\n"After spring break, we played solid golf for about a week straight," junior Heath Peters said. "After the competition, I think a lot of the team members felt like they needed a little rest, and now, we feel revived and ready to go again."\nWith such a long layoff, some teams may be concerned about having rusty performances, but sophomore Brad Marek does not think that will be the case for the Hoosiers.\n"We've been outside for the last three weeks. The weather has been pretty cooperative, especially the last couple of weeks," Marek said. "We've been able to get outside and do whatever we want, whenever we want practice-wise, and we've been competing amongst ourselves even though we haven't been in actual competition."\nThis weekend, the Hoosier lineup will consist of juniors Jeff Overton, Mike Birkenfeld and Peters as well as sophomores Scott Seibert and Marek. With the exception of Seibert, the lineup is the same one that finished fourth at the Steve Kerr Invitational, which also featured a strong field including Colorado State, which was ranked No. 24 at the time. \nThe team's ability to compete against tough fields is one of the reasons Mayer likes the way his lineup looks.\n"We're very confident that with any field we play in, if we play up to our potential, that we will be successful," Mayer said.\nThe tournament begins at 8 a.m. Saturday with 36 holes of play. The final 18 holes will be played at 8 a.m. Sunday. The Boilermaker Invitational marks the beginning of a stretch of five tournaments in five weekends, ending with the Big Ten Championships May 7 through 9.\n-- Contact staff writer Charlie Gillingham at cgilling@indiana.edu.