Indiana men's golf
Indiana men’s golf started its season off with a ninth place finish Sept. 6-8 in the Visit Knoxville Collegiate in Louden, Tennessee.
16 different schools competed in the par 70, 7,280-yard course. Five Hoosiers played in the event: junior Clay Merchent, sophomore Cole Starnes, sophomore Nick Piesen, sophomore Alec Cesare and freshman Bradley Chill Jr.
Indiana finished 12th as a team on the first day, sitting at eight over par. Merchent led the Hoosiers with a best round of a two-under-par 68. Louisiana State University led the scoreboard 12 under par.
The Hoosiers rallied back during the second day of the event. Indiana moved up two places on the leaderboard, ending the day in the top 10. Merchent was still the leader for IU, shooting even par on the second day, keeping his score of two under par.
After the first two days, the University of Mississippi placed ranked first, though LSU was right on its tail at 23 under par, only one stroke behind the leaders.
The Hoosiers moved up one spot on the leaderboard after day two, finishing in ninth place.
The leading pair for Indiana was Cesare and Piesen, instead of Merchent, who fell to 52nd place after shooting nine-over-parr in the last round.
Cesare and Piesen tied for 33rd with a final score of 214; Starnes and Chill Jr. tied for 40th and shot a 215; Merchent finished 52nd with a score of 217.
No one was able to catch LSU as it won the tournament at 23 under par collectively. Senior Algot Kleen was the leading scorer for LSU and for the entire tournament at 12 under par.
Indiana will travel to West Lafayette, Indiana to compete in the Purdue Fall Invitational on Sept. 22 at the Kampen-Cosler course.
Indiana women's golf
For the Indiana women’s golf team, a seventh-place finish strayed away from their expectations of a better result. The Hoosiers were coming off a recent high from their tied fourth-place finish at the Purdue Boilermaker Classic over Labor Day Weekend.
This week, the team played in the 31st annual Bettie Lou Evans Invitational at the Champions Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Kentucky and ended the tournament with a three-round score of 905 (302-296-307; +41).
They may have finished near the end of the pack, but a dominant performance from one of the Hoosiers’ best players keeps their heads held high in hopes of a favorable comeback.
Indiana’s top player, junior Madison Dabagia, consistently leads the Hoosiers in scoring and knocked in a team-best 11 birdie conversions and an eagle on No. 5 in the second round. Dabagia tied for an impressive sixth-place finish overall and led the team with a final tally of 219 after three rounds of play.
Junior Faith Johnson shot a 221 to tie for 14th and earned her best finish as a Hoosier since her match at the last Boilermaker Classic to open the 2023 season. Johnson completed six birdie tries for the tournament.
Redshirt senior Caroline Smith produced a score of 230. Her game consisted of two birdies in each round and an eagle on No. 5 in the second round of play.
Redshirt junior Maddie May played seven birdies, including five in the open round. She shot a final scorecard of 235.
The Hoosiers even saw a performance from their debut player and senior Beatriz Junqueira, who signed for a 249 to finish out their results.
Although their overall placing wasn’t where they wanted it to be, the women’s team had individual top-six and top-14 finishes in the invitational. Dabagia, as one of the team’s stars and imposing backbone, looks to lead the Hoosiers to a better finish at the upcoming Illinois Women's Invitational from Oct. 7-8 at the Medinah Country Club in Chicago, Illinois.
The team will have nearly a month to prepare and improve upon their mistakes for the upcoming action in the Windy City. A lot can change in the meantime, and the Dabagia’s consistently fierce performances show a promising future for the Hoosiers’ 2024 season.
