With above-average finishes, come above-average expectations. After a second place finish at Northern Intercollegiate, IU didn’t shoot par on its expectations at Quail Valley Intercollegiate.
The Hoosiers jumped one slot in the final round and, as a team, finished 14th out of 15 with a score of 879. Tuesday’s final round now stands as their second-best team score for a single round this season at 292.
Senior Andrew Havill tied for 28th to make it five consecutive tournament finishes in the top 30 this season.
However, Tuesday’s top performance for the Hoosiers belonged to sophomore Jake Brown, who posted a 3-under-69. This allowed him to jump nearly 20 spots on the leaderboard and finish tied for 35th with a score of 217 for the tournament. Brown’s final round was the first round in the 60s by an IU golfer since Brown turned in a final round 62 last year at the Loyola Intercollegiate.
Freshman Brock Ochsenreiter used an eagle and two birdies on his way to a final round 74 and a total score of 224 to earn a share of 59th place.
IU Coach Mike Mayer said he sees progress, but not to the extent he would like.
“Brock continues to be a freshman,” Mayer said. “We need him to not to be a freshman anymore. He’s given us decent numbers, but we need better.”
That being said, Mayer said the team has progressed mentally on the whole. Senior Keegan Vea finished the tournament tied for 71st after a final round score of 78 put his overall score at 228. Junior Brendon Doyle finished in 73rd position after a 79 in the final round gave him a score of 231.
Mayer said a pulled muscle hindered Doyle’s output this week. Doyle was the Hoosiers’ number one man heading into the tournament, so Mayer said not having him in top form hurt the team in a major way.
Despite decent individual performances out of Jake Brown and Havill, the IU men head into the winter offseason with a bad taste in their mouths. They have four months to mull over this finish before the Big Ten Match Play Championship in February.
“This little setback is not the end of the world,” Mayer said. “I expect them to come out ready to win in the spring.”
Until then, they must throttle back weekly practice hours from 20 hours to 8. They can practice individually as much or as little as they want, but strength and conditioning will consume the majority of their official practice time.
National letter of intent signing day is Nov. 9, and Mayer said multiple recruits have already verbally committed. While he could not divulge their names, he said it should be a day of anticipation for a new class of Hoosiers.
“We want to make postseason play,” Mayer said. “We want to be competitive in the Big Ten Championship. We will be.”
