Hoosiers finish 4th in conference

After a disappointing three-day tournament, the men’s golf team finished in sixth at the Big Ten tournament this weekend. Heading into the fourth and final round Sunday, the team was tied for fourth but did not perform well enough to win.\n“It was an extremely difficult course,” IU coach Mike Mayer said. “It was very demanding, and we just didn’t figure out how to play it. We had opportunities, but we made mistakes and didn’t finish them.” \nMayer said the Hoosiers failed to handle the golf course, which was the team’s biggest challenge.\nAlthough the Ohio State University Scarlet Golf Course was difficult, sophomore Seth Brandon didn’t blame it for his team’s performance. \n“Everyone had to play on it,” Brandon said. “We can’t make excuses, but I think the entire tournament was affected by the way the course was set up.” \nGoing into the final round, Brandon led the Hoosiers in a tie for seventh place individually, the same position he finished in last year. Trailing Brandon were fellow sophomores Jorge Campillo and Drew Allenspach. Freshman Alex Martin went into the final round of his first Big Ten tournament tied for 21st, while sophomore Brandon Pike stood in 52nd.\nWith high aspirations for the Big Ten tournament, the team is disappointed by its performance. \n“It was terrible,” Brandon said. “Today was a disaster. We choked today, we really did. The team did poorly overall and it just didn’t cut it.”\nAlthough the men failed to put themselves in a good position to win the tournament, after a bad start Sunday morning the feeling of disappointment began to set in. All team members lacked focus and patience, two major factors necessary for a win, Allenspach said.\n“This was just another reinforcement that we need to improve our fundamentals,” he said. “I think if we can do that, this team can really do something special.” \nWith the end of the Big Ten tournament, the team must now wait to hear whether they will get an invitation to play in the regional tournament. The team will wait to hear from the NCAA Board, which will determine whether the Hoosiers can advance.\n“We’re right on the cuff,” Mayer said, “so we’ll see if we’re fortunate enough to advance and hope for some good news on Monday.”