Men's golf finishes sixth at Crooked Stick Intercollegiate

The IU men’s golf team finished sixth at the Crooked Stick Intercollegiate on Tuesday, sliding back one position on the leaderboard after both the second and third rounds.

IU Coach Mike Mayer said certain players stepped up on Tuesday, but they needed a full team effort in order to make the strides forward on the leaderboard they were looking for.

“We have yet to find that formula where we can all gel together and do it at the same time,” he said.

The Hoosiers carded rounds of 299, 305 and then 303, finishing at 907 for the tournament, 32 shots outside of first place Arkansas.

The top score for the Hoosiers in the third round was provided by freshman Keegan Vea with a two-under par 70.

The two-under par performance tied for the third best score by any individual in a round of the entire tournament.

Mayer said this was the type of low score the team needed, and that coming from a freshman in particular, this created a strong push for the team.

The two-under par round by Vea came after he posted scores of 9-over and 8-over on day one of the tournament when the team played 36 holes.

“I think mentally I was more prepared to hit each shot, and I was more confident in the way I went around things,” Vea said.

Mayer said the team needs to start believing in themselves, and he knows that they are all capable of contributing low scores.

“We just need to all get on the same page at the same time,” he said.

Competing as an individual, senior Hugo Menendez fell into a tie for 23rd place after posting an 80 in the third round, but this still left him with the best three round total for a Hoosier at 227.

For the team portion, senior David Mills offered the top score at 228 through three rounds, with scores of 75, 75 and 78.

Junior Nicholas Grubnich trailed close behind at 229, which put him in a tie for 29th place.

Sophomore Max Kollin and Vea each ended the tournament in a tie for 39th place at 231.

Freshman Will Seger rounded out the team scoring at 233, which put him in a tie for 47th place.

Also participating individually, freshman Andrew Havill shot a 2-over par 74 in the third round to move his three round tally to 238. Junior Andrew Fogg finished at 240.

With four tournaments in the books, the Hoosiers have yet to finish above fifth place.

“I’m kind of tired of being here in the middle,” Mayer said.

Next Monday, the Hoosiers will have another chance to move out of the middle of the pack. They will play in the Pinetree Intercollegiate, their last tournament of the fall
season.

Follow reporter Michael Nichols on Twitter @Mike_Nichols1.