Golfers take to fairway after 3 months of inactivity

Taking a look back at the IU men’s golf team’s fall season, the squad’s success brought them to No. 31 in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings. The squad was a contender in the highly-ranked field at the Isleworth Collegiate in Windermere, Fla., and defended its champion title at the Firestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio.

After a few months of abnormally warm weather in Bloomington, the team will begin its spring season. Five events are on the schedule for spring, starting with the Big Ten Match Play Championship from Feb. 10 to 11 in Bradenton, Fla.

“We have a lot of work to do,” IU Coach Mike Mayer said. “We have to continue to work and get better. If we do that, if we get (senior) David Erdy back, then we have a chance to be very good.”

The team will compete in two match-play tournaments before moving into stroke play, which senior Chase Wright said will be beneficial to the team’s mentality for the season.

“There’s not as much pressure in scoring,” Wright said. “It’s more about beating your opponent.”

Wright said he hopes the team’s mindset and momentum from the fall will carry into the spring to help it tackle any situation on the course.

“The fall showed what we can do at big events, that we can compete with anyone,” Wright said.

The team hit a rough patch at the beginning of the fall with a 12th-place finish at the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational, in which the team faced the competitive 15-team field. In the other four events of the fall, the team placed in the top five, including a tie for fourth place at the Isleworth Collegiate. The squad finished ahead of top-ranked teams such as Alabama, Stanford and Texas to cap off the final event of the fall season.

IU will compete at the Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla., for its first event, as well as the Collegiate Match Play Championship from March 18–20.

“The club is wonderful, and the golf course is extremely demanding, particularly around the greens,” Mayer said. “It will be an early showcase for us, and the Big Ten and a great opportunity at a great venue.”

After the match-play events in Florida, the team will return to Bloomington to play in the NYX Hoosier Invitational from April 7 to 8.

“We will be comfortable in the spring because we are in the Midwest for most of April so, with not as much travel, it will be easier to handle everything,” Wright said.

The season continues with the Kepler Intercollegiate at the Ohio State Golf Course, followed by the Boilermaker Invitational in West Lafayette.

Beginning and ending their season with the Big Ten, the Hoosiers will face the conference teams again at the Big Ten Championship April 27–29 at the French Lick Resort in French Lick, Ind. With a season full of competitive fields, Wright said IU will go into the NCAA post season anticipating a spot in the finals.

“Everyone in the starting lineup from the fall has the potential to do anything,” Wright said. “We’d like to move into the NCAA finals, me especially, going into the last semester of my college career.”