Home Invitational allows IU chance to rebound

After the team’s seventh-place finish at the Border Olympics in Laredo, Texas, its worst tournament finish since mid-September, the IU men’s golf team will prepare to host its only tournament of the year, the adidas Hoosier Invitational, at the IU Golf Course on Saturday and Sunday against a 15-team field.

At the Border Olympics, the team finished 24 strokes behind tournament winner Arkansas with a 54-hole team total of 856. Junior Chase Wright was the lone IU player to finish in the top 20, finishing tied for eighth with 210 (74-67-69). After the seventh-place finish, the team dropped six places in the Golfweek-Sagarin rankings, from 28th to 34th, according to the April 3 rankings.

This weekend, Wright and the rest of the team will attempt to defend their respective titles from last year’s Hoosier Invitational. Last year, the team won by an impressive 36 strokes in the 54-hole event for the second-straight year. Wright earned his first medal after shooting a 204 and edging out his teammate, junior David Erdy, by seven strokes.

The team will begin defending its title Saturday with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start and will play two rounds of the 54-hole tournament. The third round will begin Sunday with a 9 a.m. shotgun start.

“We didn’t play our best golf at Laredo, but we also beat several teams in a really strong field,” coach Mike Mayer said. “But here in the adidas Hoosier Invitational, we expect to win. We’re the two-time defending champions, and if we play our best golf, we will win this tournament.”