After starting its spring season with a strong tied-for-eighth-place finish at the Gators Invitational on Feb. 14-15, Indiana men\u2019s golf returned to tournament play at\u00a0the\u00a0Colleton River Club\u00a0Dye Course\u00a0in Bluffton, South Carolina, for the Colleton River Collegiate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The two-day,\u00a054-hole\u00a0tournament took place\u00a0Sunday\u00a0through\u00a0Monday, as the Hoosiers ended the first round\u00a0in\u00a0fourth place, looking to continue\u00a0their\u00a0early success.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, Indiana found trouble in the second round\u00a0Sunday\u00a0afternoon, finishing last with a team score of 11-over-par \u2014 four strokes behind\u00a0second-worst\u00a0Michigan State. The\u00a0second-round\u00a0blunder\u00a0hampered the Hoosiers in the third, as a\u00a05-over-par team score led to Indiana finishing\u00a0the tournament\u00a015th\u00a0and last.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The par-72, 7,403-yard course\u00a0challenged Indiana throughout the weekend, but the University of Kentucky took advantage of low second-round scores\u00a0(-8), finishing\u00a0first\u00a0with an 11-under-par team score. The Wildcats won\u00a0a\u00a0collegiate\u00a0golf tournament for the\u00a0first time since 2018, besting Ohio State by one shot.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kentucky was led by senior Jack Schoenberger, who finished second with an 8-under-par final score.\u00a0University of Memphis junior\u00a0Diego\u00a0Do Patrocinio Lourenco beat\u00a0Schoenberger for first place after carding a 10-under-par total score and a 4-under-par third round.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Along with the Buckeyes, the Hoosiers were bested by\u00a0Big Ten foes Minnesota (-4), Northwestern (-2), Rutgers (+4), Michigan State (+7)\u00a0and Iowa (+11).\u00a0Indiana\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0gain any momentum, tying for the\u00a0fourth-most double bogeys\u00a0or worse\u00a0of any team in the tournament\u00a0after carding 11 over the three rounds.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Junior Nick\u00a0Piesen\u00a0carded the lowest\u00a0total score\u00a0for Indiana\u00a0with a\u00a02-under-par\u00a0performance, finishing tied for 10th.\u00a0No other Hoosier finished even or under\u00a0par during the three rounds.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Indiana junior Cole Starnes posted a\u00a05-over-par\u00a0final score to secure a\u00a0tied-for-48th finish. Starnes went\u00a03-under-par in the first round, but a\u00a07-over-par second round performance hurt his\u00a0chances\u00a0at contending toward\u00a0the top of the leaderboard.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Junior Neri\u00a0Checcucci\u00a0recorded a 6-over-par final score, while\u00a0sophomore Bradley Chill Jr. was one behind with a 7-over-par total, finishing tied for 57th and tied for 61st, respectively.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Of the six Hoosiers who competed in the tournament, only junior Alec Cesare and\u00a0freshman\u00a0Caleb Schnarr recorded double-digit\u00a0final scores.\u00a0Schnarr\u00a0competed in his first spring tournament as an individual \u2014 which\u00a0didn’t\u00a0count toward\u00a0Indiana\u2019s team\u00a0score\u00a0\u2014 finishing 15-over-par\u00a0and tied for 82nd. Cesare posted a 16-over-par\u00a0score to\u00a0tie\u00a0for 84th\u00a0out of 92 golfers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Indiana finished the first round 2-under-par and in fourth place. The Hoosiers were one of five teams that completed the first 18 holes under par, with Minnesota leading the way with a 10-under-par total.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Starnes and Chill Jr. were the only Hoosiers\u00a0who\u00a0finished the first round under par, recording 3-under-par\u00a0and 1-under-par rounds, respectively. Starnes recorded four birdies and only one bogey. After starting on the eighth hole,\u00a0Chill Jr.\u00a0recorded a double bogey\u00a0to begin the\u00a0tournament but\u00a0bounced back throughout\u00a0Sunday\u00a0morning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Piesen\u00a0started on the seventh hole and recorded a bogey but made pars on every other hole.\u00a0Checcucci\u00a0was also\u00a01-over-par\u00a0in the first round.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the second round,\u00a0Piesen\u00a0went 2-under-par with four birdies and two bogeys. However, no other\u00a0Hoosier was better than 3-over-par,\u00a0a number\u00a0Chuccucii\u00a0and Chill Jr. finished at. Starnes was the last Indiana golfer to be recorded in the\u00a0team\u00a0score with a 7-over-par total, while Cesare\u00a0compiled an 8-over-par total.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On Monday,\u00a0for the third round, Indiana\u00a0totaled a 5-over-par team score, which ranked tied for 12th with\u00a0Rutgers. The Hoosiers were only better than the University of Missouri (+6) and Iowa (+17).\u00a0<\/p>\n
Piesen\u00a0carded the lowest round for an Indiana golfer\u00a0Monday with a 1-under-par score. After starting on the 10th hole, the Strongsville, Ohio, native recorded three birdies on the back nine and\u00a0an eagle on the\u00a0par-5\u00a0second hole. However,\u00a0Piesen\u00a0recorded four bogeys\u00a0on\u00a0the last six holes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Starnes went 1-over-par,\u00a0Checcucci\u00a0recorded a 2-over-par\u00a0score\u00a0and Cesare compiled a 3-over-par\u00a0round three score. Chill Jr. finished the tournament with a third round, 3-over-par final score that did not count for the Indiana\u00a0team\u00a0total.\u00a0<\/p>\n