Overton qualifies for Championships

The IU men's golf team failed to qualify for the NCAA Championships after finishing in a tie for 20th place in the NCAA Central Regionals in West Lafayette this weekend. However, junior Jeff Overton shot well, earning himself an individual berth in the Championships to be played June 1-4 in Hot Springs, Va. \n"It was a strange day for Jeff out there," IU coach Mike Mayer said. "He fought back and fought back. I told him if he parred in over his last six holes that he would probably make it. Parring in over your last six holes here at Purdue is very difficult to do. So what does he do, he birdies his next two holes. That is just Jeff Overton. He deserved to go. He has had a great year. He will represent Indiana University very well at the Championships."\nOverton ended the Regionals at 222 (71-75-76) to become the first Hoosier since Randy Leen in 1997 to qualify for the NCAA Championships. The Big Ten Player of the Year put together a string of birdies on the backside to move back into contention for one of the two individual spots.\n"I hit a lot of really good shots, but this golf course is extremely difficult," Overton said. "I think I made four doubles. I hit a couple drives I thought were going to be perfect, and they ended up in the rough where I couldn't hit the ball two feet. I tried to take my medicine all I could. Luckily I made five birdies."\nOverton finished the tournament as the top individual from a non-qualifying team to advance to the Championships.\n"It is a great honor to make the finals, but I feel bad for the team," Overton said. "(Junior) Heath Peters has had a great year, and we were just short of both of us going. Hopefully we can get ready for next year as a team and go see what nationals is all about."\nPeters, a second team All-Big Ten selection, finished the Regional in a tie for 30th place and sat at even par through 44 holes before a double-bogey on the ninth hole halted his run up the leaderboard.\n"Heath played great golf for 44 holes," Mayer said. "I walked down the last fairway with him because we knew he wasn't in, and I just wanted to talk to him. He said he was in it in a big way, this was a big-time competition, and he learned from it. That is all you can ask for from a student-athlete. Heath Peters proved to me in this tournament that he is a big time player."\nThe Hoosiers finished the tournament 52 strokes behind eventual champion Kentucky, who boasted three Wildcats to finish in the top 10, including the Regional's top individual performer John Holmes.\nRounding out the Hoosier lineup, sophomore Scott Seibert rebounded from a tough opening round and finished the Regionals with 237 and tied for 91st place, freshman David Butwell fired a three-round total of 248, and junior Mike Birkenfeld shot a 252.\n"(Going to Regionals) has got to be the start and not the culmination," Mayer said. "This is where we have to go from now. We accomplished a lot this year but not everything we wanted to accomplish. We have worked hard this year, and I am extremely proud of what we have been able to do. I can't wait to the fall and practice to start"