Hoosiers finish 5th at Illini Spring Classic

After sitting in third for most of the tournament, with just holes to go, the IU men’s golf team fell to finish fifth in the Illini Spring Classic on Sunday after two of its top players, juniors David Erdy and Chase Wright, both made double-bogeys on hole 17 of the final round.

The team finished with a 36-hole total of 601 after thunderstorms Saturday forced the tournament to be shortened to just two rounds. After a final round 299, the Hoosiers finished just one stroke back from a tie for third with Northwestern and Illinois State.

Freshman David Mills was the top finisher for IU in the tournament, finishing tied for 13th after two rounds of 74 on the par-72 course. Mills also struggled to finish, bogeying his final hole of the tournament.

Wright (77-72) and Erdy (76-76) finished tied for 18th and 31st, respectively. Sophomores Brant Peaper (75-78) and Corey Ziedonis (82-77) followed, tied for 38th and 61st.

The team’s finish at the Stone Creek Golf Club marks the team’s final regular season tournament. The Hoosiers begin their postseason run April 29 when they travel to West Lafayette to play the Kampen Golf Course for the Big Ten Championships.

“We need to just take everything one step at a time,” coach Mike Mayer said. “The Big Ten is really wide open, and if we can get everyone firing on all cylinders, I think we have a shot.”

— Nathan Brown