After a disappointing fall season for Indiana men’s golf — which saw the Hoosiers fail to finish in the top 10 in three of their six tournaments — it started its spring schedule tied for an eighth-place finish at the 18-team Gators Invitational on Sunday.
The Hoosiers compiled a 20-over-par total score to tie the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Georgia Southern University. Indiana also bested its Big Ten foe Penn State after the Nittany Lions finished in 15th place at 36-over-par.
The two-day, three-round tournament was hosted by the University of Florida at the Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville, Florida. The Gators tore up the par-70, 6,701-yard course, finishing in first place with a 27-under-par performance.
As one of the premier tournaments in collegiate men’s golf, the event hosted the last three NCAA Champions — Florida (2023), Auburn University (2024) and Oklahoma State University (2025). Those were the only teams that finished under par, as Auburn went 13-under-par and Oklahoma State was 2-under-par, finishing second and third place, respectively.
Along with the tough team portion at the invitational, the event also hosted 21 golfers in the top 200, 15 in the top 100 and three in the top five of the World Amateur Golf Rankings. Auburn junior Jackson Koivun — who is the No. 1 ranked amateur — finished the tournament in first place with a 9-under-par performance.
Junior Nick Piesen was the Hoosiers’ best-performing individual during the tournament, finishing tied for 15th with an even-par score. Piesen fought back from 2-over-par finishes in the first and second rounds, posting a 4-under-par score on Sunday.
Indiana junior Cole Starnes tied for 30th with a 4-over-par performance, while junior Neri Checcucci was tied for 62nd (+9), and sophomore Bradley Chill Jr. finished tied for 69th (+11). Junior Alec Cesare rounded out the individual performances for the Hoosiers, finishing tied for 83rd (+15).
Indiana had to play from behind early in the tournament. The Hoosiers finished the first round with a 16-over-par team score, tying them for 15th.
Piesen led Indiana in the first round with a 2-over-par 72. Starting on the 10th hole, he finished the back nine with an even-par 35 after a pair of birdies plus a pair of bogeys. Piesen faltered on the front nine with three consecutive bogeys on holes two through four.
Checcucci and Cesare both compiled 4-over-par 74’s to start the invitational. Checcucci recorded a double bogey on the par-3 15th to cap off a five-over-par 40 on the back nine, but birdies on the third and sixth holes helped him finish the front nine 1-under-par.
Cesare recorded a double bogey on the front and back nine, but three birdies stabilized his score. Starnes and Chill Jr. both tallied 6-over-par 76 performances. Starnes started the tournament with a double bogey on the 10th hole, while Chill Jr. had eight bogeys during the first round.
However, Indiana responded after its rough scores on Saturday morning, turning in a 5-under-par team performance during the second round. The second-round total tied the University of South Florida and was only bested by Florida (-14), Oklahoma State (-9) and Auburn (-7).
Starnes reversed his performance from the first round, compiling a 6-under-par 64 while not recording a bogey or worse. Checcucci was the only other Hoosier who shot under par (-1), while Chill Jr. was even-par.
Piesen had trouble Saturday afternoon, even though he recorded six consecutive pars to open his second round. Piesen then recorded a bogey on 16, a double bogey on 18, plus three consecutive bogeys on the first three holes. However, he responded with a birdie on four, an eagle on the par-four, 453-yard fifth hole and a birdie on No. 8 to finish the second round only two-over-par (72).
Cesare was the only Indiana golfer unable to record a birdie in the second round. He finished with a 7-over-par 77 after double bogeys on holes No. 15 and No. 5.
Sunday saw the Hoosiers record a 9-over-par team total — the 12th best third-round score. Piesen scored a 4-under-par 66 with six birdies and two bogeys. After starting on the 10th hole, four of those birdies were recorded on the front nine, including one on the ninth hole to bring his total score for the tournament to even-par.
Starnes and Cesare were both four-over-par in the third round, while Chill Jr. was five-over-par. Starnes could have carded a lower score after three birdies on the front nine, but three consecutive bogeys on holes five through seven hurt his chances. Checcucci rounded out Indiana with a six-over-par 76 in the third round.
Indiana men’s golf continues its spring season at the Colleton River Collegiate at Colleton River Golf Club in Bluffton, South Carolina. The two-day tournament will take place March 1-2. The Hoosiers match up against Big Ten foes Michigan State, Rutgers, Iowa, Ohio State and Minnesota.
