Men's golf begins Pinetree Intercollegiate today

The final tournament of the season for the IU men’s golf team will take place on a new course.

The team will begin its final tournament of the fall season today at the Pinetree Intercollegiate at the Pinetree Country Club in Cobb, Ga.

This will be the first course of the season that the Hoosiers will enter without any familiarity.

IU Coach Mike Mayer said this will be both his and the players’ first time seeing the
golf course.

Since the team will be going in blind, Mayer said it needed to take advantage of the practice round on Sunday to adjust to the grass conditions.

He said the bermuda rough in particular could pose a challenge.

Kennesaw State, the tournament host, walked away with the victory at the Pinetree Intercollegiate last year with a cumulative score of four-under par — 24 strokes ahead of second place Ball State.

The top three individual scores also belonged to Kennesaw State.

With aims to prevent a repeat of that performance, the Hoosiers will open the tournament with the third highest team ranking.

“Our goal is pretty simple,” Mayer said. “We want to compete for this championship and be in position on Tuesday in the final round in the final pairing with a chance to win the tournament.”

Despite the offseason just beyond the horizon, the team does not have any increased sense of urgency.

“It’s just a continual process,” senior David Mills said. “I think if we just do what we do best, we will be fine.”

The tournament will consist of 36 holes today and 18 holes on Tuesday at the Par 72 course, one of Kennesaw State’s home courses.

The Hoosier roster will include five competing in the team portion and one as an individual.

Mills, sophomore Max Kollin, junior Nicholas Grubnich and freshmen Will Seger and Keegan Vea will participate in the team section. Freshman Andrew Havill will play as an individual.

This will mark the third consecutive tournament that all three freshmen will dress, continuing the blueprint Mayer had emphasized prior to the start of the season.

“We need a couple guys to step up and have a good tournament,” Mills said.

Mills said it is very difficult to enjoy much team success without at least one player finishing in the top 20 or so. The Hoosiers failed to accomplish that feat in the last two tournaments.

Only Mills has finished above 24th in a tournament this season.

He tied for fourth in the Northern Intercollegiate and tied for 12th in the Olympia Fields Fighting Illini Invitational in back-to-back weekends to kick off the season.

With a break right around the corner, Mills said he is only focused on getting his game back on track.

“I’m not really worried about specific scores or whatnot, but just keep focusing on the process of getting better,” he said.  

Mayer said the entire team is relaxed and in the right mindset for the Pinetree Intercollegiate, but he said he thinks they are eager for the offseason as well.

“I really think everybody is ready for this tournament, and they’re ready to be able to focus on some stuff other than just athletics and academics,” he said.  

Follow reporter Michael Nichols on Twitter @Mike_Nichols1.