Seniors hope to guide Hoosiers

After returning from its first tournament of the season late Tuesday night, the IU men's golf team only had one day of practice this week before it heads to Minneapolis to play in the Gopher Invitational this weekend.\nComing off an 11th place finish at the NCAA Central Regional Preview earlier this week, the Hoosiers used that one day to make some quick adjustments to improve their performance, starting with adding experience to the lineup.\nThe five-man lineup the Hoosiers used at the NCAA Preview featured three golfers making their collegiate debuts, in addition to a sophomore and a junior.\nFreshmen Jorge Campillo and Drew Allenspach will stay in the lineup this weekend, as will sophomore Santiago Quirarte. Making their first appearances this year will be seniors Brad Marek and Scott Seibert, two seasoned veterans head coach Mike Mayer is happy to send to Minnesota with the younger players.\n"One of the things we were lacking in our first tournament was experience," Mayer said. "Those two players have got a wealth of experience that they are bringing in to the lineup."\nBut Marek and Seibert bring more than experience to the table -- they bring talent and the knowledge of winning. Marek won several tournaments during the summer and advanced to the quarterfinals of the United States Golf Association Public Links Championships while Seibert is coming off a sixth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships last season.\nBoth Marek and Seibert are ready to contribute, and Seibert said steady rounds by each of them will help the entire team.\n"I'm excited to be back in the lineup, and I'm just looking to go out there and play three consistent rounds," Seibert said. "Brad and I have played three years of college golf already, so hopefully we can use that to our advantage this weekend."\nEven though the Hoosiers look for a top finish this weekend, Marek said it's more important to get the young players comfortable and to focus on gaining more experience each week.\n"We have to keep getting better every tournament," Marek said. "There's a lot of talent there, but a lot of times it takes a while for that talent to come out. So we just keep on working on things we need to work on and eventually it will pay off"