Hoosiers take 5th place in 2nd Florida tournament

Returning to familiar ground for its second event of the season, the IU men’s golf team finished fifth at the Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla., at the Callaway Collegiate Match Play.

The Hoosiers entered the event as the No. 6 seed and faced No. 11 seed Kennesaw State in the opening round March 18. Advancing to the next round after a 3.5–1.5 finish, IU fell to No 3. seed Duke, which won 4–1. With a loss against Duke, the squad moved to the fifth-place bracket Monday and defeated No. 10 seed Tennessee in a 3–2 victory. In the final match, IU topped No. 9 East Carolina 3.5–1.5 points.  

East Carolina was the Hoosiers’ final opponent Tuesday for the fifth-place spot.
Senior Co-Captains Chase Wright and David Erdy, along with junior Brant Peaper, led the squad in its first match against Kennesaw State. Junior Corey Ziedonis earned a half point after finishing all square.

Peaper, a Florida native, said past experiences in his home state helped him visualize the course. In the match against Kennesaw State, Peaper tallied three birdies, followed by two while playing Duke and four in the match against Tennessee.

“Knowing what to expect off the tee and being a little more comfortable on the greens was huge for me, especially in matchplay,” Peaper said. “I’ll need even more focus tomorrow because it’s so hot out there, and I need to stay in the moment.”  

Moving forward to the match against Duke, Erdy earned the single point for the squad despite losing the opening hole. Duke is currently ranked No. 17 in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, while IU is No. 34.

“Duke was a very, very tough opponent, but we had a good chance of beating them,” IU Coach Mike Mayer said. “The match was a lot closer than the final score indicated. I don’t think we’re afraid of anybody, and I would not have been surprised if we beat them.”

Erdy was 3–0 for all his matches so far in the tournament and said playing the same course as the Big Ten Match Play Championship helped prevent intimidation.

“The more you see a course, the more playable it becomes,” Erdy said. “Not having that level of fear on some of the tee boxes that some of the players who just came in here gave us an edge.”

Mayer said the team needed to continue its game plan in the third and fourth rounds against Tennessee and East Carolina, noting that although the team has played at the course before, it is still a difficult course. Concession Golf Club’s course runs 7,474 yards, and Golf Digest named it the 65th-toughest golf course in America in 2012.

“I think we’ve gotten better and better in all aspects of our game,” Mayer said. “We came more determined and aggressive with a better game plan.”

Wright, Peaper and Erdy won their matches against Tennessee, leading the team to the final round against East Carolina. The Hoosiers notched three wins against East Carolina in the final match to take fifth place for the tournament. Peaper, Ziedonis and Erdy each made one point for the squad, while sophomore David Mills finished all square against East Carolina’s senior Adam Stephenson to win half a point.

The Hoosiers will return to Bloomington as they play the NYX Hoosier Invitational on April 7 and 8 at the IU Golf Course. With three tournaments before the Big Ten Championship and the NCAA post season, Peaper said he hopes to see the team
continue its strong run.

“I’d like to keep progressing as we are,” Peaper said. “We’d like to win some tournaments, and I think we could’ve pulled out a win against Duke this week, but we’ll continue to play harder.”