Men’s golf aims to defend invite title

One year ago, senior co-captain David Erdy led the Hoosiers to a team title with his tie for first at the Firestone Invitational.

The team will head back to Akron, Ohio, with a few different players today and Tuesday at the Firestone Country Club — North Course.

The Hoosiers are back on the road three weeks after their 12th place finish at the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational.

IU Coach Mike Mayer said they did not get the job done with their short game, which is one aspect the team worked on heading into the week.

“We needed to put ourselves into situations where they need to perform and put them to the test,” Mayer said.

To determine the lineup for the tournament this week, the golf team had an intra-squad six-round qualifier to show who deserved to play.

Though Erdy will not play in this week’s event due to medical reasons, freshman Andrew Fogg will join the lineup after playing as an individual in the Northern Intercollegiate.

Joining Fogg in the lineup are senior co-captain Chase Wright, sophomore David Mills, junior Corey Ziedonis and sophomore Brant Peaper. Junior Michael McGee will compete as an individual.
The Hoosiers will play among the 17-team field, which includes Wisconsin, Ball State, Nebraska and Toledo.

Wright said the team looks forward to having the opportunity to play again on the road and defend its title.

“We know we can be successful since we won on this course last year,” Wright said. “It’s a good field and course. We’ve been playing well, so we just need to go out there and do it well.”

— Abby Liebenthal