Golfers trying to move beyond ‘mediocre’

The IU men’s golf team will try to get back on track this weekend at the Windon Memorial Classic in Glencoe, Ill., after consecutive disappointing finishes in its last two tournaments.

The Hoosiers are coming off 13th and 15th place finishes at the Olympia Fields Invitational and the Ping/Golfweek Invitational, respectively, which are two of the biggest college tournaments of the fall season.

“I don’t think we had the right lineup for those events, and we didn’t get the scores we needed from players two through five,” IU coach Mike Mayer said. “Against those kinds of fields there is no place for mediocrity, and we were pretty mediocre.”

Northwestern will sponsor the 13th annual Windon Memorial at Skokie Country Club, which has sponsored a U.S. Open and the Western Open in the past.

Last year, IU finished runner-up to Illinois in the Windon Memorial with 2009 graduate Jorge Campillo claiming the individual title.

Senior Alex Martin will attempt to build on last week’s sixth-place finish at the Ping/Golfweek Invitational.

“Alex had a good tournament, and it is the kind of tournament we have been expecting out of him all fall,” Mayer said. “It was another world-class field, so to finish sixth is an outstanding achievement.”

For the fourth straight tournament, sophomores David Erdy and Chase Wright will occupy the two and three spots for the Hoosiers.

Freshmen Michael McGee and Corey Ziedonis will return to the lineup this week for IU.

“This is a much stronger team for us this weekend with Michael and Corey in the lineup,” Mayer said. “Michael has played well for us at times during the fall, and Corey belongs in the lineup. He brings some enthusiasm, fire and spunk that we need.”

The Windon Memorial runs Sunday and Monday.