Men's golf travels north for two-day tourney

The IU men’s golf team heads to Wayzata, Minn., this weekend for its second tournament of the fall season. \nThe Gopher Invitational, hosted by the University of Minnesota, will be held at the Spring Hill Golf Club, a 7,020 yard par-72 course. The invitational is a two-day tournament taking place Saturday and Sunday.\nThe 12-team field includes Big Ten rivals Michigan State, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota. The invitational will give the Hoosiers an early look at some of the competition they will face during Big Ten play in the spring. \nIU coach Mike Mayer announced his team’s five-member starting lineup last week. Senior Tad Sacheck will be joined by juniors Seth Brandon, Jorge Campillo and, Drew Allenspach and sophomore Alex Martin. \nBrandon is fresh off a great start to the season as he tied for fifth at the Inverness Intercollegiate Invitational in Toledo, Ohio, last weekend. The Hoosiers finished sixth overall. Brandon said this weekend’s course is similar to the difficulty level of Inverness, but boasts a few more sand traps and water hazards, meaning the Hoosiers will have to bring a strong mental game. \n“I feel like I had good shots and hit the ball well last weekend,” Brandon said. “I missed a few opportunities on chip shots and putts, and I focused a lot on the little things in practice this week.”\nAllenspach will be making his first start for the Hoosiers this season, replacing senior Santiago Quirarte. Allenspach is coming off of a season in which he had a 76.03 scoring average and received first team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V honors. \n“I missed my first start of my IU career last week, and that certainly didn’t feel good,” Allenspach said. “Not being in the lineup last weekend was great motivation for me to work even harder in practice this week, and I feel that push will carry over and have a positive affect on my play in the tournament this weekend.”\nMayer believes his team has great depth this season, and that allowed him to substitute Allenspach into the lineup this week without the team missing a beat. He also said his team needs to work on finishing rounds and eliminating big numbers this weekend at the Gopher Invitational and throughout the season. \n“This weekend we will have to bring a much stronger focus while doing a better job of controlling the controllables,” said Mayer.