IU men’s golf earned a second place finish in the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate at the Crossings Course of RTJ Magnolia Grove in Mobile, Alabama, on Tuesday.
“I think we continually got better and better and better throughout this event, which is always one of your goals,” IU head coach Mike Mayer said.
Mayer said the tournament was one of the coldest the Hoosiers have played in during his career, but that luckily there wasn’t much wind.
The team hoped they’d have ample time to practice between rounds going into competition, Mayer said, but rain and cold temperatures prevented this. The team was still able to meet to discuss the competition, and Mayer said he believes the meetings really helped them.
IU sent senior Ethan Shepherd, juniors Mitch Davis and Harry Reynolds and freshmen Clay Merchent and Drew Salyers to the event, with graduate student Brock Ochsenreiter competing as an unattached individual.
The Hoosiers sat in fifth place after shooting five-under during the first day of competition on Sunday. The team was led in scoring by junior Mitch Davis, who ended the day tied for sixth.
Davis earned a 3-under-par 69, shooting 1-under-par on the first nine holes of the competition before shooting 2-under-par on the next nine.
IU ended the second round on Monday by rising to be tied for fourth overall. All five golfers competing for the team finished in the top 25 with freshman Clay Merchent in the lead at 10th.
Playing through cold temperatures and rain, Merchent earned a 3-under-par 69 during round two.
The final round of competition on Tuesday began with a shotgun start. The Hoosiers were able to surge into second thanks to another strong performance from Merchent, who shot a second 3-under-par 69.
Three golfers ended the competition in the top 10, with Merchent tying for third. Davis and freshman Drew Salyers tied for ninth.
“I thought we’d be deep this year, I really did, I thought we would have a lot of depth and we’re really showing that,” Mayer said. “In our top five lineup anybody could win the golf tournament.”
The team’s next competition is from March 8-9 at the Spartan Collegiate at Sea Island, with the event being played at the Plantation Course of Sea Island Resort in Sea Island, Georgia.
