IU leaves Mexico tourney as runner-up to Houston

The men's golf team concluded play in the Club de Golf Santa Anita-North Texas Classic Monday afternoon with its best performance of the 2005-06 campaign, but one team remained ahead of IU on the leaderboard.\nThe University of Houston left Guadalajara, Mexico, as the tournament champion, finishing first out of 11 teams at one over par with a score of 865. IU finished three strokes behind, followed by Southern Louisiana at four strokes back. The Cougars were able to break away from IU and the Southern Louisiana with whom they were tied for first entering the final round. The Hoosiers suffered a flat start to the tournament, ending the first round 11 shots over par at 297. However, during the second round later that day, IU proved itself to still be a threat to win.\n"I thought we got off to a rusty start and didn't play solid golf in the first round," coach Mike Mayer said in a statement. "It looked like we were trying to get our feet wet on a difficult course where accuracy is a necessity. Once we got comfortable, we really turned it on and had a spectacular second round." \nAlong with a 71 from sophomore Santiago Quirarte, the second-round comeback was led by freshmen Seth Brandon and Jorge Campillo, who shot a combined seven under par at 68 and 69 respectively. After climbing back to reach a tie for first, the Hoosiers gave themselves a chance to win entering Monday's final round.\nSouthern Louisiana had solid performances across the board to keep them in contention, but the fight for first between IU and Houston came down to a few great individual efforts. \nQuirarte, a native of Querataro, Mexico, said he was "excited to get the season started" and anxious to see his family. He gave them a good show, finishing each round at one under par. Quirarte ended Monday in a tie for fourth with Houston's Zach Mowbray. The two shot 213 for the tournament and provided a nice one-two punch for their respective teams. \nThe first two spots on the overall leaderboard were identical to those on the individual. Houston's Pablo Acuna held the top spot at 210 with IU's Campillo a stroke behind. Campillo out shot his Houston counterpart over the final two rounds, but Acuna -- who did not finish any round over par -- was able to hold onto the lead because of his stronger first-round play. Campillo's two-over 74 in the first round was the difference between first and second place individually and his performance seemed to reflect the Hoosiers' performance as a whole. Despite playing some of the best golf of the tournament for the final two rounds, it was the team's struggles in round one that kept them from the championship.\nAlthough the team's ultimate goal was to win, Mayer was proud of his team's performance.\n"With this being our first event of the spring, I'm very pleased with our effort," he said in a statement. "It was fun to be in contention coming down the stretch."\nAlso competing for the Hoosiers was freshman Drew Allenspach, who finished tied for 24th, and senior Scott Seibert who tied for 36th. Considering the team's young lineup, the strong all-around performance in Mexico certainly bodes well for the remainder of the season.\n"It really sets the tone for the spring," Brandon said.