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(11/29/12 5:55am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU men’s golf Coach Mike Mayer is recovering from a heart attack he suffered on Monday.Assistant Director of Media Relations Nate Wiechers confirmed Wednesday afternoon that Mayer was admitted to IU Health Bloomington Hospital on Monday.He said no specific information about Mayer’s condition would be released at this time, but that “Coach is doing well.”Former IU Assistant Coach Josh Brewer tweeted “Keep @IUMensGolf Head Coach Mike Mayer in your prayers as he is recovering from a heart attack #Hoosiers #mentor #getwell.”Mayer, who is in his 14th season as the Hoosier men’s head coach, is expected to be released Thursday.“Sad news,” Brewer said. “But in a way, not as sad as it could be. He means a lot to me, and (I) wanted to see how he was doing. Hopefully it turns out well.”— Jason Haddix
(11/27/12 3:58am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>As the final putt rolled into the cup for the IU men’s golf team at the Princeville Warrior/Wave Invitational, the offseason officially began for the Hoosiers.Winters in Bloomington are not conducive to outdoor golf activities, so many of the programs the Hoosiers will go through are in the weight room or indoor practice facilities. Freshman Max Kollin said the workouts in college were eye-opening when he arrived in Bloomington this fall. It took him some time to adjust to the strenuous in-season workouts that are now ramped up as the offseason is in full swing. “I would workout in the offseason,” Kollin said about his high school routine. “I would not do as much during the season because of soreness.”He said he knew the workouts were important to his success but did not realize they were going to be so challenging. He has to work through the soreness, as the team has a year-round regiment in strength training.“(Strength and Conditioning) Coach (Je’Ney) Jackson thinks of some good ways to work us out,” Kollin said. “If we’re not sore the next day, it’s very surprising.”Jackson is the head strength and conditioning coach for both the men’s golf and basketball teams. He is in his third year at IU and has an extensive background in strength training as well as a love for golf.Prior to his arrival in Bloomington, Jackson was the assistant women’s golf coach at Wyoming. He said he has worked with several students who have gone on to play professional golf.“I have developed my program through all those different experiences,” Jackson said. “I think it helps me being a golfer. I play golf. I love golf. It helps to know what will help me in my game so I can help those guys.”Many of the workouts are golf-themed to work on key parts of the body that will improve their game, including their legs.“That is your stable base,” Kollin said. “Your legs (are) where your golf swing comes from. Everyone thinks it is your arms, but it is your core and your legs completely.”They perform a task that requires them to stand on a foam roll shaped like a log while using a resistance machine. “What we are trying to do there is a rotational activity with some resistance on top of a foam roll,” Jackson said. “The foam roll is unstable, and it is hard for them to get their balance.” The exercise is one of many they do to work on the core of the body, balance and lower body strength.“There is a lot of flexibility in stuff we have to do,” Kollin said. “We are focusing on balance and our core because that is so essential in the golf swing. If you don’t have good balance, there is no way to get any power at all.”Jackson pulls from his strength training background as well as experience as a golfer and golf coach to design his programs.“It is a combination of things I have done over the years working with other golfers and some new things you learn,” Jackson said. “A lot of the things we do involves working on our core stability and proper posture.”He incorporates weight training to build upper body strength and helping their swing power.“What I always tell them is that I am trying to get them stronger so their old 100 percent swing is their new 85 percent swing,” Jackson said. “What that is going to do is allow us to hit the ball the same distance but swing easier.”He said the idea behind that is that it is an easier swing brings the shot pattern in and increases shot accuracy.Jackson explained just how important strength training is in golf.“It is huge,” he said. “Tiger (Woods) really changed the fitness in golf, but before him, buys like Gary Player and Greg Norman have always been fit, which helped their longevity.”
(11/08/12 4:21am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The third-round surge proved to be too little, too late as the IU men’s golf team finished in sixth, 23 strokes behind Baylor, in the Warrior-Wave Intercollegiate at Makai Golf Club in Princeville, Hawaii.“We knew we had to get off to a fast start, and we didn’t do it,” IU Coach Mike Mayer said. Despite the slow start of shooting 295 and 294 as a team in the first two rounds, they were able to shoot an 869 after posting a final round 8-under-par 280. The event total was their second lowest three round total of the season behind the 858 at Wolf Run. Senior Michael McGee led the way for the Hoosiers, finishing in 10th in the individual standings. He shot team lows during round one and three, 71 and 67 respectively. The third round 67 tied his lowest career round, and his 213 total was his lowest of the season.“We talked the whole tournament that we needed somebody to step up and shoot us a number, and he did that today,” Mayer said. “The 67 was a great round, and it solidified his position in the top five and was a big boost for the team.” McGee carded one eagle and 14 birdies during the three rounds along with seven bogeys and three double bogeys.Fellow senior Corey Ziedonis had the largest round-to-round improvement when he carded a final round 3-under-par 69 after shooting a 5-over 77. The round two score was the highest round total of any Hoosier for the tournament. Junior David Mills opened the season as the team’s No. 1 player but has struggle to play consistently.“He is a big part of what we need to do in the spring,” Mayer said. “We need to regroup with him. We need to make a couple swing changes, and I think he will be fine.”Mills fired a second round 1-under-par 7. The under par round was bookended with a 3-over and 4-over first and third round to end his tournament in a tie for 35th at 6-over-par with 222.Junior Hugo Menendez bounced back with an even par 72 in the last round after scoring a first round 76 and second round 74.Senior Brant Peaper, like Menendez improved each round on his way to a 221 (75-74-72) and a tie for 29th place. After Wednesday, the team is finished with the fall portion of its schedule for the 2012-13 season. The Hoosiers will pick things back up Feb. 8, 2013, with the Big Ten Match Play Championships.
(11/05/12 5:07am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It will be wheels up on Saturday for the IU men’s golf team as it heads more than 4,300 miles west to Princeville, Hawaii, for the Warrior/Wave Invitational.The tournament will be contested at the Makai Golf Club Nov. 5-7 after Sunday’s practice round. The course is a 7,223-yard, par-72 layout situated on the north shore of the island of Kaua’i.During the Sunday practice round, the Hoosiers adjusted to conditions they are not used to, especially the grass they will play on. “There is nothing like it we can simulate here in Bloomington, Ind.,” IU Coach Mike Mayer said. “We practice off bent grass and rye grass, and there is no bent grass or rye grass in Hawaii.”Mayer said the team’s going to have to adjust and adapt to the situation in Hawaii.“We try to prepare as much as we can ahead of time, but there is not much you can really do, and the practice round is key,” senior Michael McGee said. “You try to become familiar with the grasses and the strategy for play and try to fit your game to the course.”The Hoosiers hope to end the fall swing of the golf season with a strong showing after struggling in recent events. To do so, they will have to outplay 14 other teams.“It is a strong field with a lot of California teams there, along with a mix of other teams from around the United States,” Mayer said. “We are going to have to be ready to play.”Competing for the Hoosiers are seniors Brant Peaper (1), McGee (2) and Corey Ziedonis (4) and juniors Hugo Menendez (3) and David Mills (5). “I think every tournament is a reward for players, and Hawaii is no different,” Mayer said. “The players we are taking to Hawaii deserve to go, and if it wasn’t Hawaii and it was down the road in Kentucky, it would probably be the same five players.”The five will battle together in pursuit of the team crown, and each player will attempt to win the individual title.The Hoosiers are paired with Pepperdine, UAB and Xavier during today’s opening round. They are set to begin teeing off at 2 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.Mayer said starting out strong is key for the Hoosiers.“We need to get off to a nice start,” he said. “That is what we have not done in the last two tournaments, and that is what we really need to do.”McGee said the team might have pushed too hard throughout the past few events and said that might have contributed to its struggles. The tournament is unlike some of the events the Hoosiers have been in this season, as they will play one 18-hole round each of the three days. The schedule will allow for the team to take in some sites during the trip.Mayer said the purpose of the trip is to compete for a tournament win but that he wants to see his team enjoy the environment after the golfing is completed for the day.“First and foremost, it is business, and there is no question about that,” Mayer said. “When we get the business taken care of, we are going to make time to do some things we normally would not do.”He said the non-golf-related activities would be based around a team-building theme, and added trips like this are part of the student-athlete experience.“It will be difficult to control the excitement level,” McGee said. “Once you get on the first tee that excitement goes away. You can’t be in vacation mode when you are out there. It is still a tournament, and you want to end the fall on a good note.”
(10/24/12 3:02am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU men’s golf team struggled at the Isleworth Collegiate Invitational on the par-72, 7,544-yard Isleworth Golf and Country Club in Windermere, Fla., failing to get out of the cellar, finishing in last out of 15 teams.With rounds of 306-310-311, IU was the only team in the field to post more than 300 in all three rounds, and its final two scores were the highest in the event.The team score of 927 is its highest for a three-round event since the PING/Golfweek Invitational Sept. 27-28, 2009, and just the fourth over-900 score since the beginning of the 2009 fall golf season. Junior David Mills entered the season as the team’s No. 1, but after poor early season performances he dropped to No. 5 for this event. His performance at Isleworth was enough to lead the Hoosiers, albeit with a 14-over-par 230.The team’s current No. 1, senior Brant Peaper, got off to a lackluster start, carding a 13-over-par 85, but did improve in each of the next two rounds with a 77 on Monday and 75 in Tuesday’s final round.During last season’s Isleworth event, Mills shot 221 and tied for 16th, while Peaper tied for 32nd and finished with a 226. The team left with a fourth-place finish with scores of 295-301-291 (888).This year, senior Corey Ziedonis posted his lowest score of 77 during the first round, followed by his highest stroke count of 80 occurring on day two of the three-day event. His final round 78 gave him the team’s second-lowest score (+19), 14 spots below Mills on the leaderboard.Senior Michael McGee equaled Peaper’s 21-over-par after shooting 80-77-80. This was his first tournament action since being sidelined with an illness after the Wolf Run event in September. A third-round 15-over-par (87) doomed junior Hugo Menendez after posting a team-low 2-over-par in the opening round on Sunday. Sandwiched between was a 79 to give him a team-high score of 240 (+24) that slotted him in 72nd place.Of the final 10 spots on the individual leaderboard, Hoosiers occupied four of them.High scores were in part due to 97 of the 270 holes played being over-par with three triple bogeys and two quadruple bogeys. The Hoosiers were able to record only 24 birdies.
(10/19/12 4:05am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU will travel south Friday to Windermere, Fla., for the Isleworth Collegiate Invitational. The tournament will take place Oct. 21-23 at the Isleworth Golf Club.“It is probably the most difficult golf course we will play, and you combine that with the strength of the field makes this a very challenging event,” IU Coach Mike Mayer said. “It is a golf course that demands your respect.”Mayer said he feels his team is strong enough to overcome the difficulties this course presents. He added the Hoosiers seem to play better on tougher golf courses.Not only do the No. 22 Hoosiers have to battle the par-72 7,544-yard course. They also face a field of 14 other teams, 13 of which are ranked in the top 50, including the 2010 winner, No. 10 Alabama, and No. 2 Texas, the 2011 champion, as well as No. 1 California.“I enjoy playing in these kind of fields, because we play schools we normally don’t get to play,” senior Corey Ziedonis said. “We get to face possible future professional golfers, and you get to match your game up against the best.”This trip to Isleworth marks the third appearance by IU. The team earned a tie for fourth place last season and finished third in 2008.Senior Brant Peaper and junior David Mills, along with Ziedonis, were on last season’s squad and felt the pressure senior Michael McGee and junior Hugo Menendez will feel this season playing in the tournament.“Just pulling up to the gate, you know it is one of the top courses in golf,” Ziedonis said. “I am not going to be to overwhelmed.”Mayer said his players need to be sharp with their short game because of the arrangement of the course. He called Menendez a “short game whiz” and said he can score well if he continues to play the way he has all year. McGee’s appearance will be his first since the Windon Memorial, missing the last two team events.“Boy, we need that toughness out of him,” Mayer said. “Michael McGee is a grinder, so I think that golf course is perfect for him, and I don’t think he will back down from it.”
(10/18/12 3:08am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Although golf is generally thought of as a solo sport with individuals such as Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson and others competing professionally weekend after weekend, college golf revolves around the team concept.Each year, the 12 IU men’s golf team members battle it out during a multi-event summer qualifying event to determine the top five golfers who will compete week-in and week-out as a team during tournament play.“You want those people with the experience and knowledge of what it takes to play at the level you’re playing at, so starting out with freshmen is very difficult to do,” IU Coach Mike Mayer said.Seniors Brant Peaper and Corey Ziedonis, along with junior David Mills, are holdovers from last season’s No. 33-ranked squad. It is their leadership Mayer said he hopes will help develop some of the younger talent.“You want that stability with the people that know what it takes, know how to do it and have been successful doing it before,” Mayer said. “Success can permeate throughout the team if those three lead in the proper way.”Stability is what Mayer has with Peaper, Ziedonis and Mills, as they have 280 rounds of golf as Hoosiers between them, most of them as part of the starting five.During his time at IU, Mills has been the Hoosiers’ “iron man”. He has started each event on the schedule since coming to Bloomington, a streak of 79 rounds in 26 collegiate events, and Mills said he knows that experience is a key for success.“It helps to have some experience on a course,” Mills said. “You know the layout better, and that makes you more comfortable.”After missing three of the first five events scheduled during his freshmen year, Peaper has been a starter for 32 events, 98 rounds of golf in a row.“Playing for the team is something bigger than yourself,” Peaper said. “You are fighting for every stroke for your team members, not just for yourself.”Each of the three men rank in the top 35 all-time in rounds played at IU: Peaper has played 104 rounds (18th), Ziedonis 97 (20th) and Mills 79 (34th). With 21 rounds of golf remaining in the season, not including NCAA tournament play, each will move up the list, barring any injury or illness that would keep them out of the lineup.Mills has the potential to break into the top 10 if he continues his streak during the rest of his junior and senior years and makes deep runs into the NCAA tournaments.“(Mills) came in here with the utmost confidence and obviously the ability — a great junior player at the national level,” Mayer said. “He is an unbelievably talented player who is playing a game that is extremely mental and extremely frustrating. I don’t look for him to ever miss a tournament.”It is not just about playing so many rounds of golf for these three leaders, though. They said it is about producing well to keep their spot on the team. During the past four years, at least one of them has been a part of nine tournament team wins.“It is certainly individual, but playing for a team, you have an Indiana University golf bag, you are wearing the clothes and it feels like a team atmosphere when you are out there,” Ziedonis said. “You have four guys that have your back if you don’t play well, and I just think that if we all know we have each others’ back, then it makes it a lot easier to play.”Ziedonis knew what it was going to take to compete for playing time at IU two years before getting to Bloomington, having faced former Hoosier Chase Wright as a junior during the IHSAA state golf championship in 2008, defeating Wright in a playoff to take the title.“What drove me more was being at home while the other guys were competing,“ Ziedonis said. “You do get the taste of starting, but it is worse to not be on the team.”Peaper is the only one of the three who has won individual titles as a Hoosier, and he recognizes the difference between winning by himself and winning as a team.“It is always nice to win by yourself,” Peaper said. “Individual wins are really rare, but I think it is better (to win as a team) because you feel the teamwork and camaraderie.”
(10/17/12 4:19am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>MUNCIE — It took four years and 21 rounds of golf for senior Kyle Perry to win his first collegiate golf tournament, but he bested the field Monday and Tuesday at the Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational at Delaware Country Club by four strokes.“I played really well,” Perry said. “My short game was good, and (I) putted amazing for the three rounds, which kept me in it.”After posting a two-over-par 72 in the opening round Monday, Perry bounced back with back-to-back under-par scores of 69 and 67 to shoot a 208 final score. His 67 in the final round is his lowest score since coming to IU.“He didn’t get off to the best start ... with a 72,” IU Assistant Coach Brian McCants said. “He played really well yesterday afternoon and into the morning (Tuesday), and then the third round speaks for itself with a 67.”McCants said Perry has not had a lot of playing time and could have hung his head, but he had something to prove and competed hard at this event.“It’s been a rough four years, so to finally do right feels good,” Perry said. “Hopefully they can see I can actually play in tournaments.”Beyond Perry’s first-place performance, the other three Hoosiers, including freshman Max Kollin, finished in the top 25 of the individual-only event.Kollin recorded a birdie on three of the first four holes of his college golf career. One was the opening hole of the tournament.“It felt really good to get a solid round off to start my college career,” Kollin said. “I feed off my nerves. It helps my putter. It felt good to get off to a good start with a birdie.”In many college golf tournaments, there aren’t large galleries following the players between holes. On Monday though, Kollin had someone shadowing him throughout the day — his dad.Jimmy Kollin made the four-and-a-half hours drive south from his home in Farmington Hills, Mich., to see his son’s first collegiate tournament.“It felt good to have him here to watch me again,” Kollin said. “I sort of wished he would have brought my dog.”Unfortunately, due to work, his dad was not able to see the six-stroke improvement Kollin made in round three after a second round 79 took him out of the championship hunt.His total score of 222 (+12) earned him a share of 19th place.“It shows me I can compete,” Kollin said. “I wasted too many shots out there, and you can’t do that and try to be up there toward the top.”Joining Perry and Kollin to make his 2012-13 golf season debut was senior John Beringer, whose 225 (+15) put him in 25th place, his best finish since a third-place showing at the adidas Hoosier Invitational during his freshman year.The lone Hoosier to make the trip to Muncie with logged playing time this season was sophomore Nicholas Grubnich, who finished in 17th place with a 221-stroke count.“I think the way coach Mayer has prepared these guys is really impressive,” McCants said. “We have had a very good fall as a team. It speaks to the competitive level of the team. I am really happy for Kyle, and this tournament affirms how he has played the last couple of weeks.”
(10/15/12 4:31am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A late addition to the IU men’s golf schedule will give four Hoosiers who have limited playing time a chance to showcase their skills at the 54-hole, two-day Earl Yestingsmeier Individual Collegiate Invitational Monday and Tuesday at Delaware Country Club in Muncie, Ind., sponsored by Ball State.The tournament will be underway 9 a.m. Monday with a shotgun start. Day one will include the first two rounds, and the final 18 holes will be contested Tuesday.“It was a tournament we hoped we could get some players in, and we were able to get it done,” IU Coach Mike Mayer said. “We worked through compliance and worked through our academic team to make sure these guys could afford to miss school and go play.”Assistant Coach Brian McCants will lead seniors Kyle Perry and John Beringer, along with sophomore Nicholas Grubnich and freshman Max Kollin, while Mayer and the rest of his team remains in Bloomington preparing for the upcoming tournament in Florida.Mayer said he conducted a qualifying match with the six individuals who did not play at Olympia Fields in the Hoosiers’ last meet, with the exception of Michael McGee, who is out with an illness, to be fair in selecting the four participants. “These kids worked hard, and they’ve worked tirelessly, and they have done what everybody else has done on a day-to-day basis,” Mayer said. “They have conditioning at 6:30 (a.m.) and practice every day as well as the study table requirements and academic requirements. That is why it pleases me to give them the opportunity to play.”Mayer said he had hoped to give McGee course time in preparation for the final two events of the fall since he has been out with an illness for nearly a month, but Mayer felt giving the spot to one of McGee’s teammates was more important.“We had that conversation briefly,” Mayer said. “We felt like it would take away an opportunity from someone else.”Grubnich is the lone player among the four that has seen action this season. He played as an individual at Wolf Run, and he finished in a tie for 55th place.Beringer and Perry both played in two events last season and have played a combined 39 rounds of college golf between them. “These guys are players,” Mayer said. “They can play. They could be playing somewhere else, at a program not as strong as ours. This is part of what we try to do and give them the opportunity and reward them when they work hard and do the right thing.”Mayer said a strong showing by one of these players might allow them to crack the lineup for one or both of the final events of the fall.“I have four players picked to go to Isleworth: Peaper, Hugo, Corey and David Mills, and we are still looking for that fifth,” Mayer said. “That could come from anybody. You always want to dangle that carrot and give them something to work for.”
(10/03/12 3:38am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU men’s golf team made strides to climb the leaderboard during the second round of the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational on Monday only to falter Tuesday and finish in 10th place after posting scores of 300-291-296 for 887 overall.Arkansas came out swinging early to lead each round and run away from the field, scoring an 854, 13 strokes better than second-place Florida and 33 better than the Hoosiers. Stanford’s Patrick Rodgers was the lone player to shoot under par and took the individual crown.“We just weren’t clicking,” IU Coach Mike Mayer said. “We weren’t all quite on the same page. We didn’t do the little things very well. We didn’t do the basics very well. We have to shore that up.”It was the Hoosiers’ worst finish of the season and the worst since a 12th-place finish at the same event last season.“We had our opportunities up here,” Mayer said. “It was a tough field, and we knew coming in we had to play well to be competitive.”Senior Brant Peaper and junior Hugo Menendez led the way for the Hoosiers, each with an 8-over-par total, finishing in a tie for 20th.Peaper’s play was consistent throughout the tournament as he put together scores of 73-70-75 (218). Mayer said Peaper played well during the event but didn’t produce well during the final round.Menendez, on the other hand, fought back after posting a 77 in round one with a team-low 68 during day two’s play, then finished with a 73 on Tuesday. His 13 birdies during the three rounds were second most of any golfer.On the course’s four par-three holes, Menendez went 3-under-par with a scoring average of 2.75 strokes, tied for the best during the event.Junior David Mills had his best score of the season with 76-74-73 (223) and finished 32nd. The 223 matched his total score last year in this event, when he finished 36th.“What he was able to do is play a little bit more like David Mills,” Mayer said. “The surprise is not what he did in the tournament but what he did in the last few tournaments.”Mills lowered his score with every round.“I improved every round and definitely improved over the last few tournaments where I have been struggling,” Mills said. “It is not about the score or who you beat. It is about doing the little things better.”Mills said he wants to work on his swing and putting during the team’s week away from competition. He said his putter failed him early but has come around of late.After earning three top-20 finishes in the first three events of the year, senior Corey Ziedonis finished the event in 65th place.“You have to accept the ups and downs sometimes in this game,” Mayer said. “I think his swing got a little bit off, his timing got a little bit off and his rhythm. He is a young man that relies on good rhythm and timing because he is so powerful and hits the ball so hard. He’ll be back.”The 79 Ziedonis carded during rounds two and three was his highest single-round score since his season-opening 86at the Northern Intercollegiate.Sophomore Andrew Fogg shot 76-79-75 (230) and ended the three-day event in 60th place. It was his first team participation since April 7-8, 2012, at the NYX Hoosier Invitational. “Fundamentally, we’ve got to be a lot stronger and a lot better than we were in this tournament,” Mayer said.
(10/02/12 3:39am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Round two at the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational came to a close Monday afternoon, and IU improved to 10th place. Senior Brant Peaper jumped to the top 10 in individual standings.Junior Hugo Menendez led the Hoosiers in the second round as he orchestrated a nine-stroke turnaround from his opening round 77, since his 68 was tied for second of Monday’s rounds.“I knew his 77 was not what he wanted, and he was very disappointed in that round,” IU Coach Mike Mayer said. “He was disappointed in himself and his performance. It was a great way to follow it up, and, hopefully, he has gained back that confidence.”Menendez, from Gijon, Spain, opened with a bogey but followed with birdies on six of the last seven holes of his first nine. He then struggled a bit as he made the turn to his second nine holes, where he was over par on three of the next four holes.“It was an up-and-down round, but the way he came back to finish was big for this team,” Mayer said. “Maybe it was the European win in the Ryder Cup that inspired him.”Peaper continued his success from this year as he improved on his opening round 73 with a 70 and catapulted from a tie for 20th place to a tie for ninth.“From tee to green, as good as I have seen him hit it,” Mayer said. “If he does that and makes some putts, he could have shot really low. He is a big time player and has shown us that all year.”The final round for the Hoosiers will be underway on hole 10 at 8:30 a.m. with sophomore Andrew Fogg teeing first followed by senior Corey Ziedonis, junior David Mills, Menendez and Peaper.
(09/28/12 3:59am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The No. 25 IU men’s golf team heads to Illinois this weekend for the third time this season. The team gets set to play in the Olympia Fields/Illini Invitational at Olympia Fields Country Club from Sunday to Tuesday in Chicago.Historically, some of the nation’s best collegiate golf teams have showcased their skills here.With seven of the top 14 teams in the country in this weekend’s field, this year’s tournament is no different. “It is a world class field, perhaps one of the best fields if not the best field in college golf for the year,” IU Coach Mike Mayer said. “We will see some unbelievable competition, and it really will be a chance to gauge where we are right now.”The Hoosiers have struggled at Olympia Fields since their second-place finish in 2008 with back-to-back 13th-place finishes in 2009-10 and a 12th-place finish last year.With the recent lackluster performances at the Chicago club, the change from playing the North Course to trying to tackle the 7,114-yard par 72 South Course may be the wild card the Hoosiers need to make a good showing. “The south course is a little tighter and a little shorter (than the north course),” Mayer said. “I am expecting it to play pretty tough. Our iron game has been really strong, particularly our wedge play, and hopefully we can capitalize on that and score some birdies.”Familiar faces make the start for the Hoosiers as senior Brant Peaper, senior Corey Ziedonis, junior David Mills and junior Hugo Menendez make their fourth starts of the season. All but Menendez have played in this event in the past. Rounding out the Hoosiers lineup is sophomore Andrew Fogg who will make his first team start this year. Fogg already has three rounds under his belt this year, having played as an individual at the Wolf Run Intercollegite. “Andrew Fogg played so well at Wolf Run,” Mayer said. “He certainly deserves this shot, and with a combination of things, he has earned his way into the lineup.”Peaper is the most experienced Hoosier at Olympia Fields, having played the event in each of his three years at IU. His best performance came during his sophomore season when he carded a 223 and finished in a tie for 51st place. Ziedonis said he’s given into pressure the past two years here at Olympia Fields after posting respectable scores in his first and second rounds.“The pressure of competition is much greater than what we face most of the year,” Ziedonis said. “It’s basically a national championship field every year, and as hard as the course is, the field exposes any weakness a team may have.”Mills has started in this event each of his first two years in Bloomington as well, and he’s finished in 36th place in both years. “We struggled in the past few years competing with these teams,” Mills said. “Like coach Mayer says, ‘Everyone is going to play, and you have to play your best to compete.’”Ziedonis said they must play like it is any other tournament. “I think if we go into it this year and act like it is just any other tournament, we should be fine,” Ziedonis said.
(09/25/12 4:48am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>After achieving first and second place finishes to open the fall golf season, the Hoosiers came up short at the Windon Memorial, finishing seventh.“Unless you bring your A game, you’re going to get your butts handed to you,” IU Coach Mike Mayer said. “That is kind of what happened in this tournament to us.”It was a Big Ten battle at the top of the team leaderboard to determine the champion. Ohio State fought back from a 14-stoke deficit behind Northwestern in the first round to outlast the Wildcats and capture the Windon title. For the third straight tournament, the Hoosiers placed someone in the top three of the individual standings. Monday, junior Hugo Menendez finished his third round with a tournament total of a 3-over-par 216.“I was hitting the ball pretty well in the previous tournaments, and I just tried to keep it going,” Menendez said. “I made a couple changes with my putter so I could putt better to get lower scoring.”At the conclusion of round one, the Hoosiers were six strokes behind Northwestern, which finished with 292, and Mayer said the Hoosiers struggled on the last three holes as they finished their rounds.“We did not handle difficult situations as well as we should have,” Mayer said. “With three holes to play in round one, we were in position close to the lead and played those three holes very poorly.”Menendez maintained steady play throughout the tournament as he led the Hoosiers in scoring in each of the rounds with scores of 73-73-70 (216). His 70 in the third round was the only score under par for the Hoosiers during the tournament. “Hugo Menendez had an outstanding tournament,” Mayer said. “He really did the job he needed to do this week, and now he knows he can play at the highest level, and I expect to see more of this in the future from him.”Senior Brant Peaper matched Menendez in the first round but struggled in the second, shooting a 7-over-par 78.“His short game let him down in the second round,” Mayer said. “I think he got a little uncomfortable and lost confidence around the greens.”Peaper battled back in the final round to shave four strokes off his second round score, marking the best round-to-round turnaround for the Hoosiers in the tournament.Senior Corey Ziedonis and freshman Sean Stone were the only Hoosiers to drop strokes in the second round from their first round scores.“Corey continues to show he is a gamer,” Mayer said. “His determination is what we need. He is determined to go out there and fight, scratch and claw for the best tournament he can have. He did a nice job.”Stone closed with a disappointing final round of 88, 17 over par, in his first team start for IU.Mayer said he needs the team to play together as well as individually to improve from last weekend’s performance.“We just never really got it going as a team,” Mayer said. “We were not able to get everyone on the same page at the same time. It took us awhile to get comfortable with the greens and how fast and firm they were. But we know that we have to do a better job with that, because we will see more of the same next weekend at Olympia Fields.”
(09/21/12 3:34am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Hoosiers look to continue their successful start to the fall swing of the 2012-13 men’s golf season as they travel to Skokie Country Club in Glencoe, Ill., for the Windon Memorial on Sunday and Monday.On Sunday, teams play back-to-back 18-hole rounds, then battle in the final round beginning Monday morning.Seniors Brant Peaper, Michael McGee and Corey Ziedonis and juniors David Mills and Hugo Menendez will represent IU without the company of individual competitors, unlike the first two tournaments.The five will be up against not only the course but also 14 other teams.In addition to IU, four other Big Ten schools are in the field: Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State and Northwestern. Also vying for the title are Florida Atlantic, UC Davis, Eastern Michigan, Coastal Carolina, Marquette, Tennessee, DePaul, Harvard, Lamar and Toledo.“The field is probably equivalent to (the Wolf Run Intercollegiate), maybe a little bit better,” IU Coach Mike Mayer said. “I think we will be ready to go with the short turnaround.”With a strong field, Mayer said the Hoosiers will need solid play from each of the five members, including Mills, who didn’t play up to his usual standards in the team’s last tournament.“David Mills and I will spend a lot of time together this week,” Mayer said. “I have a good idea what he needs to do to get his game back. It is not that far away but in this game, if you are little bit off, you can be a long way off.”The Windon Memorial has been around since 1993 and is held in the Chicago area. The likes of Tiger Woods, Luke Donald and Hunter Mahan have competed in this event.This will be the sixth year in a row the Hoosiers have competed in the event. Their best finish as a team came in 2008 when they took second place.That year, then-IU senior Jorge Campillo took the individual title with a record-breaking performance as he shot a 63 during the final round on his way to a 205 for the 54 holes. Both scores still stand as tournament records, but his 205 was tied by Matt Thompson of Michigan last year.Of the five IU golfers, Menendez will be the only one making his first showing in the Windon Memorial.McGee and Ziedonis first competed at the event in 2009 when it was last at Skokie Country Club. They finished 80th and 47th, respectively.Skokie is located north of Chicago and about a mile west of Lake Michigan. It plays 7,081 yards and is a par-71 layout.“Skokie Country Club is a course we are familiar with,” Mayer said. “It is an old-style Chicago club, a beautiful up and down golf course with demanding greens.”To prepare for the green speeds at Skokie, Mayer said the staff at IU’s golf course and practice facility tried to emulate the environment.“We have to be able to really adapt to our situation very well,” Mayer said. “We will have to be on top of our game around the greens to be successful.”
(09/20/12 4:26am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>At the age when most are fine-tuning their walking and running skills, Sean Stone was working on his backswing and putting stroke.When he was 18 months old, his parents gave him his first set of golf clubs. They were made of plastic, and he could be found swinging them all around his house.The IU freshman has come a long way from dodging coffee tables in the living room and chairs in the kitchen on his way to sinking a putt into a plastic cup. Now, he is taking cuts with titanium drivers and walking the links of some of the best courses in the nation representing the Hoosiers.Before coming to Bloomington, Stone worked his way through several levels of junior golf, both in Indiana and across the nation.“Golf has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember,” Stone said. “I started playing the par th course in Evansville when I was like 3 or 4.”His tournament career began when he was a 4-year-old playing in the Evansville Junior Golf Association. He said that was a big part of his early development in golf and helped him stay focused on the sport. “I started playing in state tournaments for the Indiana Golf Foundation,” Stone said. “That kind of opened my eyes to where it is not just kids in Evansville, and I am not the best.”And once Stone began high school, IU Coach Mike Mayer began to take notice of his play.“I was able to get such a good feeling about this young man because of the relationship we established early,” Mayer said. “He did a great job making it known he wanted to play for Indiana University.”At Harrison High School, Stone made the state championship finals three times. He finished fifth his sophomore year and struggled a little the following year, finishing 32nd.Stone said his father Scott was an inspiration for him and a significant reason why he played golf.Scott Stone guided Carmi High School to the Illinois State Championship during his junior and senior years.It was Sean’s senior year when everything came together and became a state champion. He led Harrison to the state championship and captured the individual title all while being the No. 2 player on his team.“Sean was the No. 2 player for his high-school team, and I don’t recruit many No. 2 players from high-school teams,” Mayer said. “When I hear that a player from Evansville has the potential to be good, it always peaks my interest.”Once he arrived in Bloomington, Stone said, he had to work hard to get playing time on a team with five seniors.Mayer said Stone had a strong summer and qualifying tournament and earned the right to play as an individual in the season-opening tournament.His performance at the Northern Intercollegiate gave him an opportunity to play again at Wolf Run Intercollegiate.“Sean has shown he can play with these kids,” senior golfer Brant Peaper said. “He is a pretty solid player with a lot of talent.”Mayer said that Stone has already fit in with the team, and he is not afraid to mix it up a little with his fellow Hoosiers. “I think he has earned the respect of his teammates and has really integrated himself into the team,” Mayer said. “He is having a lot of fun, and they are having a lot of fun with him.”Stone said his nerves have helped him focus since starting his college golfing career, and Mayer said he’s always focused when he’s playing in a tournament.“He is a bulldog on the golf course, which is one of the things I love about him,” Mayer said. “He fights as hard as he can fight with every stroke out there and never backs down.”
(09/17/12 3:28am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>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.”
(09/14/12 4:13am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU men’s golf team will look to build on its tournament win last weekend with another strong showing at the Wolf Run Intercollegiate at Wolf Run Golf Club in Zionsville, Ind., on Saturday and Sunday.The two-day tournament tees up Saturday with 36 holes of competition using a shotgun start at 8 a.m. The final 18 holes will be played Sunday. Tee times will be announced after Saturday play.IU Coach Mike Mayer said he understands the importance of riding the wave from the Northern Intercollegiate into Wolf Run this weekend.“We have to build off this momentum,” Mayer said. “We’ve got to take this confidence into Wolf Run. We have a little target on our back. Some of the teams are going to want revenge and come after us.” Michigan State and Northern Illinois are two teams that may want revenge. IU defeated both in the last tournament.Other Big Ten teams in the field are Ohio State, Illinois and Wisconsin.Butler, IUPUI and IPFW join IU as the four teams playing in their home state.Texas Tech, Kentucky, Akron, Miami (Ohio) and Eastern Michigan round out the field.“They are going to know that if they get a win against Indiana it is going to be a quality win,” Mayer said. “It is going to help their strength of schedule, help their RPI and help their rankings. They are going to be coming after us, and we have to be ready to go.”Senior Michael McGee said the course will be a challenge.“There are some holes that can wreck your day really fast,” he said. “You have to always be on top of your game.”Eight Hoosiers, the starting five from last weekend and three more individuals, take to the course to battle for a team and individual titles.Of the starters, McGee and fellow seniors Brant Peaper and Corey Ziedonis as well as junior David Mills all have competitive experience at the course. Junior Hugo Menendez will see his first competitive action at the course this weekend.“I have played it a bunch,” McGee said. “Personally, I love the track. It is my favorite in Indianapolis by far.”The team will compete alongside sophomores Andrew Fogg, Nicolas Grubnich and freshman Sean Stone. Fogg and Grubnich make their first appearances of the season while Stone will try to expound the experience he gained in his first outing last weekend.The scores from the individuals don’t count in the team standings. They are competing for the individual title.McGee said the team is excited to play so close to Bloomington, and he likes where the team is thus far in the season.“We have some really good players playing good golf,” McGee said. “We’re looking to go out and put together another solid finish and keep the ball rolling.”
(09/10/12 3:22am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>CARMEL, Ind. — Throughout the BMW Championship, it was clear Jeff Overton had ties to the Hoosier State. He walked the course to the chant of, “Hoo, Hoo, Hoosiers” from the gallery.Some might call this a homecoming of sorts for Overton, a 2005 IU graduate. Despite finishing tied for 51st this weekend in the BMW Championship at Crooked Stick Golf Club, he said he was happy with the event.“It was a great event,” Overton said. “There were a lot of great crowds. Indianapolis has a lot to be proud of.”Through his first two rounds of play, Overton recorded five birdies and five bogeys. He shot a double bogey on No. 8 in the first round. “It was a little bit of a fight the first couple rounds,” Overton said. “I did not hit it as good as I would like to. I didn’t do anything good.”In comparison, Vijay Singh, the leader after two rounds, had 13 birdies and an eagle in the first two rounds. The low scores by most of the field were due to the course conditions, Overton said.“The course is still so soft, and the greens are in perfect shape,” Overton said. “Anytime you get a course in this good of shape there are going to be low scores.”The greens may have been in perfect condition, but Overton said he blamed some of his struggles in the early rounds on his putting. In rounds one and two combined he carded 62 putts.His putting improved in round three. He had 25 putts, down from 30 in round one and 32 in round two.In the third round, Overton scored six birdies and one bogey for a five-under-par score. Birdies on his final four holes of the day got him to a 67, tied for fourth best score of the day.“It was nice to shoot something under par here,” Overton said.Overton said he knew putting was the key for a low final round score. But, as was the case in the first two rounds, he said his putter failed him.“If I make all my putts inside seven feet, we shoot five or six under,” he said.Despite his putting woes, he went into No. 16 two-under-par for the day and five-under for the tournament.A bogey on hole 16 followed by a double bogey on 17 dropped Overton to one-over-par for the day and two-under for the tournament.“The last three holes were probably the toughest three finishing holes we’ve played all year,” he said. “Seventeen was just a ridiculous set-up, playing 230 with a 20 mph wind, and you have about eight paces to hit it on there.”His tee shot landed to the left of the green. He was unable to get the ball out of the rough.Because of the wet weather conditions, the golfers were able to use the “lift and clean” rule. The rule allows players to lift their ball from the fairway and clean it, then place it in the same spot.Overton said he is not a fan of the rule.“If you think about it, lift, clean and place is basically lift, clean and cheat,” he said. “Crooked Stick held up to the test though. Unfortunately, it was too wet, so they couldn’t get the place firm and fast and make it more difficult.”His two-under-par score was not low enough for Overton to earn enough points to be in the TOUR Championship in two weeks.“I am ready for a nice little break before maybe playing in a few events this fall,” he said. “I’m going to take a few weeks off and maybe catch a football game.”
(09/10/12 3:19am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU men’s golf team shot a tournament-low score of 888 to win the Northern Intercollegiate title at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill. They bested Saint Mary’s of California by 15 strokes. Senior Michael McGee had the low score for the Hoosiers, shooting 219, a six-over-par.“We stumbled out first round a little bit, get the jitters out and get the nerves relaxed,” IU Coach Mike Mayer said. “Then we really came through with a second round. Today we didn’t give anyone else a chance. We were in control.”IU’s competition consisted of two pre-season top-25 teams and two others that received votes.Mayer called this course one of the toughest he has seen in his career.During the difficulties of the first round, senior Corey Ziedonis shot a team-high score of 86.“He is a senior, and Corey knows he can’t shoot that 86,” Mayer said. “As a senior, he can’t do that to this team.”Ziedonis came out in Saturday afternoon’s second round to record a 71, one of four par rounds for the Hoosiers for the tournament. He fired a final round of 72 to score a 229 overall.“That was very important for this team,” Mayer said. “It was a statement by Corey that, number one, he is not going to let those things have a negative impact on him, and number two, that he can always bounce back.”All six Hoosiers competing finished in the top 20.“Michael (McGee) has always been a solid player for us,” Mayer said. “This is a big one for Michael. It gets him going, gets him a lot of momentum and a lot of confidence.” McGee’s 219 was good enough to secure him a second-place tie for the tournament. Senior Brant Peaper finished in fourth place, one shot back from McGee.“I struggled to get in the lineup the last couple years, but I had a great summer,” McGee said. “I got some confidence, and I hope to keep the ball rolling going on with the college season.” Freshman Sean Stone performed in the first tournament of his collegiate career. “Sean has come a long way,” Mayer said. “He was No. 2 on his high school golf team. He needs to realize he’s arrived, he belongs and he can play at this level. He could be a special placer for us and the City of Evansville.”Stone entered the final round in fourth place. He shot a five over par in the first round and even par in round two. His seven over par in the third round dropped him into a 13th place tie.“I was pretty nervous with the new step in my golf career,” Stone said. “After a few holes, the nerves kind of went away, and I got under control and started to play my game.”Rounding out the scoring for the Hoosiers were junior David Mills, who finished in 19th with a score of 228, and junior Hugo Menendez, who shot a 229, finishing in a tie for 20th.“It was a great team effort, and we got production up and down the lineup,” Mayer said. “Everyone did their part to get this win. Now we have more work to do to get ready for Wolf Run, because we will have the target on our back, and teams will be gunning for us.”
(09/07/12 3:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU men’s golf team lost some key members and leaders from a team that, one year ago, ended the season ranked No. 33 in the nation.The team has retooled and is looking to get back on course, IU Coach Mike Mayer said.Twelve tournaments, including the Big Ten Championship, are on the schedule for the Hoosiers leading up to the NCAA Championships. Six of the events will take place in the fall. “Our schedule is one of the strongest schedules we’ve had in recent years,” Mayer said. “This is going to be a challenge, and this tournament schedule will be in the top 25 (strength of schedule) in the country this year.”The fall swing for the Hoosiers starts at the Northern Intercollegiate on Saturday at Rich Harvest Farms Golf Course in Sugar Grove, Ill. The Hoosiers finished third in this two-day event last season. Indiana play host to the next stop of the season, the Wolf Run Intercollegiate, on Sept. 15-16 at the Wolf Run Golf Club in Zionsville, Ind. This is the first of four events the Hoosiers will play throughout the season in Indiana.The Windon Memorial, the final two-day tournament of the fall half of the schedule, is Sept. 23-24 at the Skokie Country Club in Glencoe, Ill. The Hoosiers have played this event in the past with success, tying for second in last year’s event.September closes as the Hoosiers take part in the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational in Chicago. Mayer said the field for this event is as good as it gets in collegiate golf.Next, the Hoosiers will travel to Florida for the Isleworth Collegiate from Oct. 21-23 in Windermere, Fla.. The fall segment of the schedule ends as the Hoosiers travel to Hawaii for the Princeville Warrior/Wave Invitational from Nov. 5-7.Mayer said part of the scheduling process is to challenge the team by pitting it against some of the best competition in the nation and to set up the team to win matches so that it can make postseason tournaments. “We just have to go out there and play our best,” junior David Mills said. “It really doesn’t matter what the other teams score because it is basically us against the course.“If we keep doing what we do the best and keep the right mindset, the results will take care of themself.”The Hoosiers will seek a couple men to step up as team leaders to replace those who graduated.“Last year, we were led by two seniors that were clearly the cream of the crop in Chase Wright and David Erdy,” Mayer said.Seniors Brandt Peaper and Corey Ziedonis, along with Mills, a 2011 All-Big Ten Championship golfer, are the three individuals Mayer said he will look to as leaders this year.Mayer said the pressure of being a leader on a college team can affect some in a negative way. Others, such as Mills, can focus on the task at hand and shed the pressure.“I am going out and just play golf and don’t really think about anything else,” Mills said.A qualifying tournament that was used to determine the playing order for this weekend’s tournament concluded Monday. “We had a very difficult seven-round qualifier,” Mayer said. “These qualifying rounds are grueling, and I was very pleased with the effort I saw. These were the six players who both conquered and survived the challenge.”Of the six players Mayer eluded to, freshman Sean Stone will play as an individual. The other five — Mills , Peaper, Ziedonis, senior Michael McGee and junior Hugo Menendez — came out ahead in qualifying and will represent IU as a team. Stone, who is from Evansville,, is set to see his first action of his collegiate career after a successful high-school career in which he won the Indiana State High School Championship last year.“I think this team has a chance to be very, very good, but I also think we have a lot of work to do,” Mayer said. “We will know a lot more about this current team after next week.”