Landfall marks IU's last shot

This weekend is the IU men's golf team's last chance. \nSince the beginning of the season, the Hoosiers have professed their expectations and desires to have success in the fall. With a few exceptions, this fall has mirrored last year's. Beginning play today in the Landfall Tradition in Wilmington, N.C. -- IU's last event until February -- the Hoosiers have one last chance to do something memorable before 2007. \nBefore IU surged through the spring toward an NCAA berth last season, the team struggled in the fall, multiplying the pressure on the players to play at a high level in every spring event. The Hoosiers got away with their competitive procrastination. In the six spring tournaments before the Big Ten Championship, IU won two events and finished below the top three only once. The Hoosiers were determined to start this season as they ended their last in hopes of a more comfortable route to another NCAA bid. However, with one finish in the top five thus far, IU has hardly accomplished its goals.\nThough the Hoosiers proved last year a great second half of a season can yield a postseason berth, they would like to end the fall on a positive note. \n"We have all spring," sophomore Seth Brandon said, "but you don't want to play bad -- ever." \nSophomore Jorge Campillo has not slumped after his Big Ten Freshman of the Year award-winning season a year ago. His sixth-place finish at the Wolf Run Intercollegiate in Zionsville, Ind. Oct. 7-8 was his worst of the season. With both Brandon and fellow sophomore Drew Allenspach finishing in the top 25 in IU's previous event, IU coach Mike Mayer is confident the two are returning to their late-season form, but he said the team is lacking in production from its final two spots in the lineup. \nThe Hoosiers flew directly from the Big Ten/Pac-10 Challenge in Oregon to the site of their next event, Wilmington, N.C. Mayer said if the team had stopped in Bloomington, he definitely would have made changes to his lineup. Brandon said he was not sure how much that would aid the Hoosiers. \n"Maybe that would help. Maybe it wouldn't. Who knows," he said. "I know (the players in the lineup) can play well. I've seen them play well." \nMayer said the direct travel between tournaments and across several time zones presents problems that are not personnel related. \n"The biggest worry I have is jet lag," he said. "Good thing it's a three-day event." \nFriday's 8:17 a.m. tee time begins the 54-hole event as well as the end of the first half of IU's season. Playing in yet another highly competitive field, a strong showing would boost the Hoosiers in the rankings to give them a head start on a return to the NCAA tournament. Another mediocre display, however, again would leave IU with a spring schedule containing little room for error. Campillo has led the Hoosiers so far in the season, and he is confident that if IU plays the way it expected to in September, the Hoosiers will be formidable opponents for anyone -- be it spring or fall. \n"We have to play well," he said. "If we play well, we can beat any team"