Men's Golf | February 25

GOODYEAR, Ariz. – The NIU men's golf team teed off its spring season Saturday morning with an impressive showing at Palm Valley Golf Club, posting a team score of -4 to close the opening round in a tie for sixth place in the field of 16.

Led by Charlie Cameron's 67, the Huskies had two golfers finish under par as newcomer Thomas DeMarco carded a 71 as well. Matt Cholod and Jordan Less both shot +1 with a 73 in the first 18-holes of play. Cameron's -5 was the third-best round of the day, trailing Eastern Michigan's Nicolas Ross by three strokes.

"It was great to see Charlie start the spring season with a terrific 67," said Director of Golf Tom Porten, "he had several chances to score even lower but I'm very pleased that our lone senior lineup was our leader. As a team, we not take advantage of two of the par fives and as a result, we could not stay near the lead."

Northern Illinois University's four scorers on the day all finished within the top-50 of the standings with Cameron (third) and DeMarco (22nd) leading the way. As team, NIU finished tied with Elon on the day one and was two strokes shy of Arkansas State, Seton Hall and UConn in third place. MAC rival Eastern Michigan shot -13 as a team to carry a five stroke lead heading into day two.

Coach Porten was pleased the opening round but sees more room for improvement to advance the Huskies in the tournament standings.

"Overall, I liked our effort and it's great having Thomas and Matt in our lineup. They showed flashes of what they're capable of and they're fitting in well with our young team. Tomorrow we need to execute better with our putters to close on Eastern Michigan," Porten added.

NIU will continue play at Palm Valley Golf Club tomorrow morning. Live stats can be followed on GolfStatResults.com

TEAM STANDINGS: 1. Eastern Michigan - 275 (-13); 2. UT-Martin - 280 (-8); t3. Arkansas State 282 (-6); t3. Seton Hall - 282 (-6); t3. UConn - 282 (-6); t6. Elon 284 (-4); t6. NIU - 284 (-4); 8. Missouri State - 286 (-2); 9. SIU Edwardsville 287 (-1); 10. St. John's - 288 (E); 11. Utah Valley - 289 (+1); 12. Air Force - 290 (+2); 13 DePaul - 292 (+4); t14. Loyola (Md.) - 293 (+5); t14. Drake - 293 (+5); 16. Murray State - 296 (+8)

TOP-10: 1. Nicolas Ross (EMU) – 64 (-8); 2. Gerald Mackedon (SJU) – 66 (-6); 3. Charlie Cameron (NIU) – 67 (-5); t4. J.T. Timmons (UVU) – 68 (-4); t4. Lloyd Jefferson Go (SHU) – 68 (-4); t4. Austin Swafford (UTM) – 68 (-4); t7. Eight players tied

NIU SCORES: 3. Charlie Cameron – 67 (-5); t22. Thomas DeMarco – 71 (-1); t47. Jordan Less – 73 (+1); t47. Matt Cholod – 73 (+1); t70. Russell Matos* - 75 (+3); t83. Salvador Rocha – 76 (+4)