Coming off a break of more than two weeks, IU men’s golf will travel to Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii, to participate in the Ka’anapali Classic Collegiate Invitational for the team’s final tournament of the fall season.
Following a seventh-place tie at the Crooked Stick Invitational in Carmel, Indiana, the Hoosiers will look to continue doing what they have done — defeating the opponents they are expected to beat, while looking to pull off a few upsets.
“There’s opportunities to beat some talented teams,” IU Coach Mike Mayer said. “We’ll look at it as a heck of an opportunity to knock off some ranked opponents and get some head-to-head wins.”
One highlight of the Hoosiers’ fall season thus far has been the play of junior Jake Brown. Brown has finished in the top 30 in three of four tournaments this season and has had top-10 finishes in the past two.
“I think his overall process has been outstanding,” Mayer said. “His management of himself, his abilities and what he’s capable of doing has been great. He’s really played within himself and that’s sometimes hard to do.
The play of freshman Evan Yakubov at the Crooked Stick Invitational also caught the attention of the field. Yakubov started off day one strong by posting a score of 5-under in the first two rounds and found himself in a tie for first heading into the last round.
Yakubov would then go on to shoot a 7-over in the final round and finished in a tie for 14th.
“I just have to remember how I felt in those first two rounds,” Yakubov said. “Just keeping with my process and sticking with my game plan. I think I got a little away from it that last round, so I just have to really stick to it this next tournament for all three rounds.”
This will be the first time the Hoosiers will travel to Hawaii since participating in the tournament in November of 2015. In that tournament Brown tied for 59th, while senior Brendon Doyle tied for 69th. Both of them will be participating again this year.
The team members said they will look to enjoy their time away from Bloomington, but at the same time realize they must focus on the reason they are there — to play golf.
"We’ll go to a tournament luau, we’ll do some things, but we also have to stay in the moment and within ourselves and understand what our goals and opportunities are,” Mayer said. “You want to take the five players who can represent us the best, and we feel like they’re in the lineup for Hawaii.”
