IU to tee off in California

The IU men’s golf team will hit the links for the fifth consecutive week playing at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational in Fairfax, Calif.

First- and second-round play begins today at the Meadow Club, which is the home golf course of California, with the third and final round to begin Tuesday.

This will be the Hoosiers’ first appearance at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational, a tournament that has yielded low scores in the past.

The field consists of a mixture of Big Ten teams, along with western schools, including six of the top 40 teams in the nation.

In the 2007 Alister MacKenzie Invitational, 12 of the 16 teams in the field finished under par in the three-round event.

This week’s invitational will be a welcomed break from the rigorous courses the Hoosiers have played so far this season. Of the four tournaments IU has played in this fall, only two of the 62 teams have finished the event under par as a team.

“It looks like on paper it will be a shootout,” IU coach Mike Mayer said. “The four courses we have played so far have been far from those playing conditions, so on paper it looks like we are going to have to go out and make some birdies.”

The top-three spots remain the same for the fifth straight tournament, with senior Alex Martin and sophomores David Erdy and Chase Wright in the lineup.

Freshman Corey Ziedonis will also play in his third tournament of the fall. He will attempt to build on his performance at the Windon Memorial Classic on Oct. 4, where his score counted toward the team total in all three rounds.

Playing in his second tournament this fall will be junior Ren Han. During his freshman season, Han finished second as an individual in the Pinehurst Intercollegiate and will try to recapture a similar ending this week.

“He has played well in a number of professional and amateur events around the country,” Mayer said. “Ren has a lot of experience and I think he is really ready to get back to that Pinehurst attitude.”

The Hoosiers will try to pick up some much-needed wins this weekend.

“It would be nice to get some wins back,” Martin said. “We need to start playing really well and get back above the .500 mark, so hopefully we can do that this week.”