Intense spring break awaits golf team

While thousands of IU students will be spending their spring break with late nights and even later mornings, there will be early wake-up calls for both the men’s and women’s golf teams next week.

The men will head to Arizona and the women to Florida for some warm weather.

“It has been a tough winter for everybody up here in the Midwest, and we haven’t seen too much grass yet,” IU men’s coach Mike Mayer said. “We are going to play some great golf courses, and we are going to challenge them in every way possible as preparation for the spring.”

IU women’s coach Clint Wallman and his team will leave Saturday and take a bus to Orlando, Fla. for the week, stopping along the way in Atlanta.

“We have four tournaments left including the conference championship, and so the more reps and practice we can get in, the better we will be,” Wallman said.

Last year, the women’s team headed to Hawaii during break and played in the Dr. Donnis Thomas Invitational.

Wallman said even though the Hoosiers will not be playing in any tournaments this year during break, the trip to Florida will still allow for some competition within the team.

“We have some great courses lined up,” Wallman said. “We are just trying to get in some playing and practice because that is the whole focus of the trip.”

Wallman said the team will return home March 19 to rest up before heading out west the following week for the Mountain View Collegiate in Tucson, Ariz.

While Wallman will be taking the entire team with him, Mayer will only be bringing his top seven players.

Senior Alex Martin, junior Ren Han, sophomores David Erdy and Chase Wright and freshmen Michael McGee, Brant Peaper and Corey Ziedonis will be the lucky seven traveling to Tucson.

Mayer said the Hoosiers will be able to get in six qualifying rounds before heading north to play in the Collegiate Match Play Championship in Marana, Ariz.

The Hoosiers won the 36-hole stroke-play portion of the Collegiate Match Play Championship last year, with Erdy capturing medalist honors. IU went on to defeat Stanford and UCLA during the match-play part of the tournament before falling in the finals to Middle Tennessee State.

“It is a loaded field again with 16 of the best teams in the country,” Mayer said. “Spring break allows us to go out to Arizona and get some quality practice in, and we’ll take seven out there and the low five will play in the Collegiate Match Play.”

With only a handful of events left for both teams, a week away from school will give both Mayer and Wallman some thoughts on who they should use as NCAA post-season bids are on the line.

“I am just looking to get some very focused and quality time on the course and see some scores,” Wallman said. “I need to see some scores from some people and see who will be in the lineup for the stretch run.”