The Hoosiers not only had to battle the other competitors but also the elements during a shortened Hoosier Collegiate at Otter Creek Golf Course in Columbus, Indiana, over the weekend.
The Hoosiers tied for sixth place with Ball State at 14-over par for the weekend. That put them 12 strokes behind the co-champions Miami of Ohio and Purdue who tied at the top at two strokes over par for the tournament.
With cold temperatures in the 30s and wind gusts getting up to about 15 mph in the area all weekend long, the tournament was shortened to 36 holes with 18 holes being played Saturday and the same being done Sunday.
“It was the second week in a row we battled the weather, so it’s kind of what we do,” IU Coach Mike Mayer said. “With playing with it last week, we felt like we had some advantage. Tough weather, we have to play in it and continue to get better.”
As for the Hoosiers on the course, they posted a team score of 295 on both Saturday and Sunday.
They battled through cold and blustery conditions, which left them in fourth place out of 14 teams heading into Sunday’s final round.
They were just four shots off the leader in the Purdue Boilermakers.
“We got a solid performance from a lot of guys,” Mayer said. “We got a nice performance from Andrew Havill in the first round and a nice effort from Max Kollin in the second round, but we need more than that.”
Max Kollin had the low team score for the round Sunday at 1-under par following a 3-over round Saturday.
Individually, he tied for 13th place, which is the best of his career at a tournament not played at the IU Golf Course.
“I just kind of stayed in there,” Kollin said. “I had a couple three putts, but I rolled it really well, and that’s what you got to do out there with the tough conditions.”
During Saturday’s first round, it was Havill who had the low round shooting an even 72.
His tied for 13th finish is his second straight top 15 finish and the fourth top 15 finish of his career.
Coach Mayer said it was a course the team knew fairly well.
“I think we knew it well,” Mayer said. “The challenge was the wind and the cold. That being said, we handled it pretty well, but we needed to handle it really well.”
Aside from Kollin, none of the other team golfers shot under par Sunday. Jake Brown and Andrew Havill shot 2-over par while Keegan Vea shot 4-over and Brendon Doyle shot 5-over par.
“We’re still looking for someone to really emerge,” Mayer said. “We got solid play, but we need more.”
Next week the Hoosiers will head up to West Lafayette, Indiana, to compete in the Boilermaker Collegiate.
Kollin said there are some things he can take into next weekend.
“I think there’s definitely some momentum coming into the next week,” Kollin said. “Just working on my short putting and gaining more momentum on those will definitely help. I’m feeling very confident in all parts of my game.”
