Hoosiers take 2nd place at Wolf Run Intercollegiate

ZIONSVILLE, Ind. — During the two-day 54-hole Wolf Run Intercollegiate tournament, there were 12,509 strokes among the 14 teams.

It came down to just three swings as Illinois topped Indiana 855-858.

“It is tough to beat all these teams at the same time,” IU Coach Mike Mayer said. “All these teams can play, and you have to beat them at the same time. We have 14 teams here, and you have to beat 13 of them. We beat 12 of them and lost to one of them.”

Senior Brant Peaper led the Hoosiers as he tied the tournament record score of 202 (65-70-67) to capture the individual title.

His opening round of 65 also tied the single-round record.

“In my 25 years of coaching, Brant Peaper’s performance may be the most impressive I have ever seen,” Mayer said. “I didn’t think 202 would ever be touched by anybody.”

Mayer said Peaper was in control of his golf game from the first hole of the tournament Saturday until his final putt Sunday afternoon.

Mayer said this is a performance that can help a player’s confidence.

“Hopefully he takes that with him moving forward with the understanding and knowledge that he can play at that kind of level, because that level may be a level I haven’t seen that much, and I have seen some pretty damn good players,” Mayer said. “He is a special young man, period. But he has developed into a special player.”

Peaper said he didn’t know how close he was to the tournament-record score during his final round.He just knew what he had to do to score well.

“My mindset coming in here was that I knew it was a tough golf course and to take each shot one at a time,” he said. “I was trying to go as low as possible. I am disappointed we didn’t win.”

Playing 54 holes of golf in two days can make for long, tiring days for young student athletes, but Mayer said he likes where his team’s minds are when they are on the course.

“When we compete in those 12-hour days like (Saturday), it is a tribute to these kids that they can have the patience and discipline and the knowledge that every stroke is key and vital,” he said.

Senior Corey Ziedonis, freshman Sean Stone and sophomore Andrew Fogg joined Peaper as the four Hoosiers to post below-par rounds during the event.

Fogg and Stone were competing for the individual title, and their scores did not count toward the team totals.

With the second-place finish at Wolf Run and a victory in the season opener last week, the Hoosiers are off to a strong start for the fall golf season, Peaper said.

“It means that we are doing a lot of things right early on,” he said. “We can build on this, especially with the older guys, because we have been here.”

Mayer said this might have been the start of which he dreamed. He indicated he was happy with most aspects of how his team played.

“I felt like we could do everything we could do,” Mayer said. “We left our hearts out there on the golf course. We left everything out there, and that’s all you can do. At the end of the day, we’re really happy with what we were able to accomplish.”