Erdy leads squad to 4th place finish in Tucson

After a monthlong tournament layoff, the No. 30 IU men’s golf team traveled to Tucson, Ariz., to play in the National Invitational Tournament at the Omni Tucson National Golf Club on Monday and Tuesday in an attempt to extend its three stroke-play tournament winning streak.

Unfortunately for IU, even with a strong final round of two-over 290, the team couldn’t continue the streak, ending the day where it began, tied for fourth place with a team total of 882.

After playing the par 72 Catalina course in its first 18 holes Monday, IU, the highest-ranked team in the field according to Golfstat.com, stood in sixth place after shooting a 15-over team round of 303.  

Junior David Erdy and freshman David Mills each shot 74 in round one to lead the Hoosiers. Junior Chase Wright shot 77, and after coming off his win in the Wexford Plantation Intercollegiate in February, sophomore Brant Peaper finished last of the four scoring players for IU.

But the team made up some ground in the second round on the par 70 Sonoran course. After 17 holes in the late round Monday, the Hoosiers were tied for fourth and stood at 10-over for the second round.

After play was halted Monday night due to darkness with just a hole to play for each IU golfer, the team left the course just nine strokes behind current leaders Southern Methodist, No. 46 Tulsa and tournament host Arizona.

Before its 8 a.m. shotgun start Tuesday, the team finished the second round with a nine-over 289, eight shots behind the trio tied at 16-over par.

Yet, under-par final rounds by Erdy and Peaper on Tuesday still couldn’t make up enough ground to catch either SMU or Arizona, and Tulsa ran away with the title, posting a team total five-under 283 final round with three players a combined 10-under par.

Erdy finished tied for eighth after his final round one-under 71, shooting a three-round total of 216 (74-71-71), marking his fifth top-10 finish of the season.   

Peaper finished with a final round 70, landing him tied for 17th with 221 (78-73-70). Peaper made just one bogey in his final round, along with three birdies. Mills followed, tied for 23rd (222) with a final round 74.

Sophomore Kyle Perry’s final round 75 was the first of his to count toward the team score in the tournament, and Perry finished tied for 57th with 230 (79-76-75).