The IU men’s golf team will travel to Fort Meyers, Fla., for its first
tournament of the spring in the Big Red Shootout against Ball State on
Saturday.
The team’s first taste of competitive golf was scheduled to be in the
Big Ten Match Play Championship in Palm Beach, Fla., from Feb. 11-12.
But on Jan. 10, coach Mike Mayer announced the Hoosiers would be
traveling to Fort Meyers for a tune-up match before they get into Big
Ten play.
Because of low temperatures and snow that covered the IU Golf Course,
the squad was forced to hit into nets indoors in the Gladstein
Fieldhouse.
“It’s been pretty tough because we’re hitting balls into a net, but me
and [David] Erdy know how good we can be,” junior Chase Wright said.
Erdy and Wright led IU in the fall, sitting atop the No. 1 and 2 spots
on the team, respectively. Freshman David Mills and sophomore Brant
Peaper round out the top four, and all four have been ranked in the top
200 collegiate golfers, according to Golfweek.com.
But the Hoosiers will be without Erdy this weekend because he is
scheduled to play in the Jones Cup, one of the top amateur golf events
in the country, Mayer said. In his absence, Mayer said he hopes to find
prospects for a “five guy” for their five-man competing roster.
“We’re ahead of the game, I think, in our guys one to four, and that’s
what fall and spring does for you,” Mayer said. “But we need someone to
step up and play five as well. We’re going to give some guys a chance to
prove that they want to be in that position.”
Season opens in Fort Meyers without Erdy
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