Trip to Rhode Island awaits Hoosier golfers

After a fifth place finish at last weekend's Central Regional Preview at Notre Dame, the IU men's golf team is on the road once again this week. Today the Hoosiers will tee off in the 11th annual Adams Cup in Newport, R.I. The two-day tournament will be played Monday and Tuesday instead of the weekend tournaments the Hoosiers have played this fall -- giving the Hoosiers added scheduling pressures. \n"Unfortunately, the trend seems to be more Monday-Tuesday events, which I detest," IU coach Mike Mayer said. "But, we get the opportunity to play in the Adams Cup and the Big Ten/Pac 10 challenge. We've worked hard to get into those events. That's a reward for our play last year, and it's tough to turn down. We ask a lot of our student athletes."\nIf the beginning of the week tournament presents the Hoosiers with more challenges, they do not seem too concerned.\n"With a weekend tournament, we miss Thursday and Friday classes anyway," senior Jeff Overton said. "For a Monday and Tuesday tournament, you just miss Monday and Tuesday. So, it's not really that big of a deal."\nFellow senior Heath Peters also downplayed any effect the Adams Cup schedule may have. But he admits the team must take care of school before the tournament starts.\n"You have to have everything squared off before you leave, that's the one thing," Peters said. "Because during a Saturday-Sunday event, you leave Thursday evening or Friday. You really don't miss too much school work -- it's really not too bad. When you have a Monday-Tuesday event, you come back in the middle of the week and you're trying to catch up for the rest of the week."\nRegardless of any extra stress from the schedule, the Hoosiers remain confident they are on the right track. After a season-opening ninth place finish, IU rebounded the next week with a strong showing in the final two rounds of the Central Regional Preview to finish fifth in a strong field.\nThe Hoosier lineup this week will feature the best shooting golfers on the team right now. Overton and Peters will be joined by junior Brad Marek, freshman Santiago Quirarte and junior Aaron Walters. \nWalters will be competing in just his second tournament -- his first away from IU's home course. Mayer said Walters' recent play forced him into the lineup.\n"Aaron's last five rounds here were 73, 66, 75, 69, 68. Those are outstanding rounds, and he just blew away his teammates. He deserves to go," Mayer said. "This is yet another new lineup for us, but we feel we're deep enough to do this."\nThe Hoosiers will play 36 holes starting at 9 a.m. The final 18 holes will be played Tuesday also beginning at 9 a.m. \n-- Contact staff writer Charlie Gillingham at cgilling@indiana.edu.