Sophomore wins first collegiate tourney

All season long the men's golf team has been aiming for a victory, either as a team or individually. And that win came this past weekend at the hands of sophomore Heath Peters. \nHe finished atop the leaderboard at the Johnny Owens Invitational in Lexington, Ky., by shooting a four-over par 220, good for two strokes over teammate and classmate Jeff Overton and Brent Jones of Louisville. \nIn the team division, IU finished a solid second by three strokes behind Vanderbilt, 906-903.\n"Winning this title was awesome for Heath and our team," coach Mike Mayer said. "It was a great win for him. He finished well, and we are so proud of him."\nGoing into the final round on Sunday, Peters was tied atop the leaderboard with two others. But those two weren't able to keep ahold of the sophomore, who made his way to the win despite undesirable conditions. \n"Today was as difficult of conditions that I have seen in my 14 years of coaching," Mayer said. "It was just brutal out there. I am very proud with how we were strong enough to hold on. I felt we showed Vanderbilt what we could do and that we could compete with them. We beat every team in our region, and I couldn't be happier about that."\nThis is Peters' first victory of his short but solid career at IU. It is the second time that the Hoosiers have finished second in a tournament this year. \n"All I have been trying to do is finish in the top five, but to break in and win a tournament is great," Peters said. "It really shows that you can compete with anyone. Today, I just tried to keep my mind in it and not worry about the conditions. It is tough to look at three-over par as a good round, but today it was, and it was good enough to win it."\nAlong with the two sophomores, freshman Scott Seibert finished tied for 28th, with a 233. Seniors Aldo Jordan and Ben Davidson concluded the lineup shooting a 234 and 241 to finish in 34th and 62nd places respectively.\nThe Hoosiers will participate in the Marshall Invitational next weekend, April 4-5, in Huntington, W.V., at the Guyan Golf and Country Club.