IU men’s golf travels south for Snowman Getaway

The IU men’s golf team will leave the Indiana winter behind for the Snowman Getaway in Goodyear, Ariz., today and Tuesday.

The team will travel south for the mid-week clash against other Midwestern schools looking to escape the cold and compete in more amicable conditions for golf.

Warmer weather allowed the team a few more chances to hit outside, but occasional snowstorms serve as a reminder as to why the team travels south for tournaments in February.

“We could make a snowman out here,” IU Coach Mike Mayer said . “The weather here in Indiana isn’t helping us, but if you look at numbers from the last couple weekends, the numbers are improving. I’m anticipating being better, but I still don’t think we’ll be at full capacity.”

After their sixth-place performance Feb. 15 at the Big Ten Match Play Championship, the Hoosiers will return to stroke play format. Mayer said it will be beneficial for the team to get back into a more traditional tournament scoring system.

“The match play was a blast, but the pressure — it is totally different,” Mayer said. “This is college golf as we know it, so it’s good to do it and get back to it. Although I’m glad we haven’t been there yet because truthfully, we haven’t been ready for stroke play. Now, I think we’re at least a little more ready.”

Mayer highlighted the benefits of having a smaller team. IU only has eight players on its roster. This means every member of the team can travel for tournaments — five athletes compete officially, and three can compete as individuals.

Junior Nicholas Grubnic will likely be competing in IU’s top five at the Snowman Getaway. He said he’s hoping to build off the momentum he started the past two weekends.

Grubnich improved his standing in each successive stroke play tournament he has competed in this season, culminating in a tie for 20th at the Pinetree Intercollegiate.

“I built up a lot of momentum last weekend,” Grubnich said. “Throughout the Alumni Match, I started hitting it better and better, and toward the end I started playing pretty well so I was able to take that over to Big Ten Match Play.”

IU freshman Keegan Vea said the team is ready for the tournament, but reiterated Mayer’s thoughts that the team hasn’t reached its potential.

“We’re going out there expecting to win by, hopefully, a lot of shots,” Vea said. “That’s just what we need to do, and that’s the mentality that Coach has been emphasizing. We’re not nearly where we can be, but it’s looking better each and every day.”