Strong 5th place finish building block for Mayer's team

SOUTH BEND -- After an opening round of 304 that put the IU men's golf team in seventh place after the first day at the Central Regional Preview, the Hoosiers recovered with rounds of 294 and 292 en route to a fifth place finish among one of the tougher fields IU will see this fall.\nThe fifth place finish comes one week after the Hoosiers tied for ninth at the Michigan/Radrick Farms Invitational. Although the team is still without a tournament victory in the young season, the improvement made in one week was a welcome sight, teammembers said. \n"The field here was a lot better. Granted, every tournament we're looking to win, but I think we're finally starting to click," senior Heath Peters said. "I think, eventually, we're going to make it back to where we were last year, where we have the team chemistry and everything. So I think we're well on our way."\nThe Hoosiers were in danger of another disappointing tournament after Friday's opening round at Lost Dunes Golf Club in Michigan, but the final two rounds, which took place at Notre Dame's Warren Golf Course, were kinder to the Hoosiers.\n"I felt that we were close to having a very solid round there (at Lost Dunes) and we just let it get away. But we came back strong, and we were tough," IU coach Mike Mayer said. "We had a nice solid round (Saturday) with a couple of hiccups and the same thing (Sunday)."\nSenior Jeff Overton's performance in the tournament was emblematic of the team's. The reigning Big Ten Golfer of the Year got off to a rough start with an opening round of 78, but rallied with rounds of 70 and 66 to tie for second place with Michigan State senior Andrew Ruthkowski. Overton's total of 214 was five strokes behind Kent State junior, and tournament champion, Ryan Yip.\n"A couple more of those 15-footers could have dropped, and I could have gone even lower, but I'm pleased with the way I played," Overton said. "I didn't do anything stupid which is key. As long as you do everything real solid, you don't have to necessarily hit any awesome shots. You just have to never mess up. That's the key to shooting a few under par, that's basically what I did (Sunday).\nWith three more tournaments this fall, including the Adams Cup in Newport, R.I., next week, the Hoosiers see their finish at the Central Regional Preview as a good step.\n"Overall, fifth in this field is okay. It's a hell of a lot better than last week's performance," Mayer said. "We feel good that we're taking a step in the right direction."\n-- Contact staff writer Charlie Gillingham at cgilling@indiana.edu .