Golf travels for Hoosier Invitational

Senior Brantley Kushner escapes the sand trap in a golf tournament last season.

Photo contributed by Andrew Bray

By Jack Reyering, For The Miami Student

After a two and a half week layoff from their last tournament, the Miami University golf team looks to build on their early season successes. The RedHawks return to action this weekend at the Hoosier Invitational in Bloomington, Indiana.

The team last competed at the Middleburg Bank Intercollegiate tournament in Williamsburg, Virginia. The 'Hawks finished seventh out of 30 teams in the tournament. MU previously placed sixth at the Talis Park Challenge and second in the Colleton River Classic.

Despite the two week hiatus, head coach Zak Zedrick is confident his team is ready to compete.

"Last week was the first week that we have been able to be consistently outside all spring," Zedrick said. "We played a lot of golf, which I think is good."

Zedrick said he believes it is important to prepare for competition with a consistent mix of playing golf outdoors and individual indoor training to work on specific areas that need attention.

"When you're inside, you're spending a lot more time focused on your fundamentals," Zedrick said. "At times it can be difficult to just jump out and compete and get that to translate in a competitive situation. So, it's good for guys to go out and play and get some reps in."

This weekend, Miami competes in the midst of one of the most important golf tournaments in the world: the Masters. Zedrick uses teachable moments he sees from the PGA golfers to coach his own team.

"It's something that we've been doing a little bit more of, where if it makes sense to talk about something specific then, yeah, we do that," Zedrick said. "Especially with our guys that are looking at moving on and playing at the next level. We have those conversations about what guys at this level are doing with how they spend their time at practice and how they go about their business."

The Hoosier Invitational beings Saturday and runs through Sunday.

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With several high finishes this season already under their belt, the RedHawks look to finish the regular season strong before the Mid-American Conference Championship May 1. In order to do so, Zedrick says they will have to worry about themselves and play their own brand of golf.

"It's all about worrying about how we play and what we can control," Zedrick said. "If we get distracted by how other teams are performing, we won't play our best golf."