Hopes high for Hatter Fall Classic

The Hoosiers begin play in the three-day, 54-hole Hatter Fall Classic in Howley-In-The-Hills, Fla., today. The tournament will be played at the Mission Inn Golf and Tennis Resort's El Campeon Course. The NCAA Championships were played there last year. \n"Our expectations are good," said coach Sam Carmichael . "I think we've been playing well and I think it's a good course for us. It's an excellent golf course. It's got good tight fairways and nice length. You have to hit good shots, you can't get lucky and scatter the ball. But I think we'll hit the ball and it'll be a good course for us." \nCarmichael said he'll have sophomore Mary Lidester in the first spot, followed by sophomore Karen Dennison, junior Cara Stuckey, sophomore Danah Ford and senior captain Tiffany Fisher. \n"I think it's the same as it's always been, to try and win as a team," Lidester said. "We need to have everybody play their best and hopefully everybody will have a good day the same day."\nDennison said the team needs to build on its two, fourth-place finishes.\n"It should be a good tournament," Dennison said. "Hopefully we can play well, and finish in the top three. That's what I'm looking for."\nMichigan, one of the 18 teams at the tournament, has placed first in all three of its tournaments, including the Northern Invitational and the Legends Shootout. IU placed fourth in both of those tournaments. \n"It doesn't really matter who all is there," Stuckey said. "We're just competing with ourselves and we just want to go out there and get a better place finish than fourth." \nThe deluge of rain last week has set back several practices for the Hoosiers. The team had Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday off because of the rain. \n"We haven't been able to work too much, we've been rained out just about every day," Carmichael said.\n"The kids have been working just to maintain what their game was whenever they could get out to practice, but we just haven't had much opportunity since (our last tournament) the Legends to even play, it's just rained every day."\nThe lack of practice wouldn't deter the team, Carmichael said.\n"It certainly won't help anything, but we'll get down there and they have a good practice area," he said. "We haven't been off that long, so we shouldn't forget that quickly."\nThe Hatter Golf Classic will no longer mark the end of the Hoosiers' fall season, as Carmichael was able to enlist the team in the Pine Needles Invitational in Southern Pines, N.C. on Nov. 5-6. The tournament will replace the canceled Mary Fossum Invitational. \nThe team remains focused on the tournament. \n"I think we know we're capable of doing better than we have, it's just a matter of going out and doing it and putting four good scores in each round," Stuckey said. "I think that's one of our weak points, not getting that fourth good score in there. But, overall we're all confident in ourselves and each other and we just need a breakthrough tournament"