Men's Golf | March 26

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. - With the trio of Charlie Cameron, Thomas DeMarco and Salvador Rocha all shooting par or lower, the NIU men's golf team shot -3 on the final day of the FAU Slomin Autism Invitational with a 285, tied for the second-best round of the tournament. Cameron ended the tournament in a tie for eighth place, the best finish of his NIU career.

As a team, Northern Illinois University tallied 18 birdies paced by DeMarco's five. The sophomore shot even par 72 in the final round to place 17th in the tournament. With four birdies and 13 pars, Cameron was nearly perfect on the day, improving his standing over 18 places to tie for eighth with a 69.

Rocha had one of the tournament's best improvements in the round, moving up 20 spots in the standings with a -2, improving by nine strokes from his second round score of 79. Rocha's 70 placed him in a tie for 36th overall.

Director of Golf Tom Porten was extremely pleased with the team's performance on the day, responding from the team's adversity yesterday and its ability to maintain its high level of play. 

" I was very proud of the effort and outcome today. We dug a hole yesterday and today we climbed out early and kept our momentum going," Porten said. "Sal and Charlie got us going early and they were terrific. Charlie chipped in on his second hole and just kept going from there. Sal converted an eagle on 14 and then hit quality shots on the back nine to close his 70 out. And Thomas did a great job of battling back to get to even."

The team's extra work after the rounds completion on Friday and Saturday was a key in Porten's eyes.

"We spent a lot of time working on our drivers and putting the past two days and it paid dividends. We have a long way to go but the talent is evident," he added.

The Huskies will take a week off from competition before competing in the Mizzou Intercollegiate in Columbia, Mo. The tournament will tee off on Monday, April 10.

TEAM STANDINGS: 1. UCF - 289-291-287=867 (+3); 2. Jacksonville State - 290-300-284=874 (+10); 3. UConn - 298-297-288=883 (+19); 4. Southern Miss - 296-306-285=887 (+23); 5. NIU - 298-306-285=889 (+25); 6. Georgetown - 291-301-300=892 (+28); 7. DePaul - 304-295-294=893 (+29); 8. Florida Gulf Coast - 298-295-304=897 (+33); 9. Florida Atlantic - 304-301-301=906 (+42); 10. Murray State - 316-296-297=909 (+45); 11. Stetson - 305-304-304=913 (+49); t12. Hartford - 307-316-316=923 (+59); t12. Morehead State - 302-317-304=923 (+59)

TOP-10 INDIVIDUALS: 1. Daniel Pico (JSU) - 69-72-68=209 (-7); 2. Manuel Elvira (UCF) - 68-72=140 (-4); 3. Austin Knight (Murray) - 72-71-71=214 (-2); t4. Derick Kelting (USM) - 71-78-68=217 (+1); t4. Andrew Potter (FGCU) - 69-72-76=217 (+1); 6. Kyler Tate (UCF) - 76-73-69=218 (+2); 7. Eduardo Blechtein (GU) - 71-73-75=219 (+3); t8. Charlie Cameron (NIU) - 73-78-69=220 (+4); four others tied for eighth

NIU INDIVIDUALS: t8. Charlie Cameron - 73-78-69=220 (+4); 17. Thomas DeMarco - 74-76-72=222 (+6); t24. Jordan Less - 78-73-74=225 (+9); t36. Salvador Rocha - 79-79-70=228 (+12); t54. Matt Cholod - 73-85-75=233 (+17)