Men’s golf finishes third, confident for rest of season

The Hoosiers finished third in the Northern Intercollegiate, their first event of the season. They ended with a tournament total of 888, eight strokes short of second place Tulsa and 18 strokes behind first place Central Florida.

“Overall, I don’t think we played that well, but we managed third in a very good field,” IU Coach Mike Mayer said. “We didn’t play up to my expectations. We realize we’re pretty good and all shocked that we finished third.”

After a first-day team total of nine-over-par 293, the team sat in sixth place with Northern Illinois and Purdue. Junior Brant Peaper finished low for the Hoosiers in the first round with an even-par 71, followed by rounds of 73 and 79 to put him tied for 17th.

Tournament play in the first day was delayed due to fog, which later suspended play because of darkness. Senior co-captain David Erdy said he refocused his game after carding a triple-bogey while finishing his second round Sunday.

“The course got harder as the day went on, but my swing started clicking,” Erdy said. “I felt comfortable hitting shots and giving myself chances for birdie. When you’re hitting it close, it makes the rest easier.”

Erdy posted a final-round even-par 71 en route to a nine-over-par 222 tournament total, finishing tied for 15th. Fellow senior co-captain Chase Wright also excelled in the final round with a three-under-par 68, moving him up the leaderboard tied for sixth at a 216 tournament total.

“I was really consistent and giving myself opportunities here and there,” Wright said. “The final round was just really steady compared to the first two.”

Erdy and Wright agreed that the Rich Harvest Farms course was difficult, but they handled it well.

“We got a few bad breaks. We need to work on our putting and getting up and down more often,” Erdy said.

Mayer said the two seniors had great ball striking. He said he was impressed by freshman Andrew Fogg, who played as an individual for the event.

“It’s about not making big numbers,” Mayer said. “I think we can turn this into a positive and come back with strong forces.”