DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's golf team opens its 2018 spring schedule March 9-10 in the Jackrabbit Invitational, hosted by South Dakota State, at Boulder Creek Golf Club.
 
Tournament: Jackrabbit Invitational
Location: Boulder City, Nev.
Course: Boulder Creek Golf Club
Format: 54 holes
Start Times: 9 a.m. CST shotgun starts
Par: 72
Yardage: 7,402 yards; Coyote Run course (front nine) and Desert Hawk course (back nine)
 
Field (15)
NIU, #22 UCLA, UNLV, Nevada, UC Santa Barbara, South Dakota, SIU Edwardsville, Weber State, Northern Kentucky, Binghamton, Creighton, Youngstown State, Detroit Mercy, Alabama, South Dakota State
 
Lineup
1. Thomas DeMarco; 2. Jordan Less; 3. Joo-Young Lee; 4. Salvador Rocha; 5. Matt Cholod
 
Getting Back Into The Swing Of Things
NIU plays the first of its seven spring tournaments this weekend at the Jackrabbit Invitational. The Huskies played in five events last fall, finishing in the top half of the team field in two tournaments. NIU finished in the top-five at the Pinetree Intercollegiate on Oct. 24, the last time the Huskies competed.
 
"The main thing for us early in the spring is to build up our strength of schedule and get optimal weather," said NIU head coach Tom Porten. "There's going to be some rust, but we were able to get outdoors last week while most of this week's field competed in tournaments."
 
Starting Five
NIU will be fielding a lineup of Thomas DeMarco, Jordan Less, Joo-Young Lee, Salvador Rocha, and Matt Cholod for the third time this season. The last time this group of five competed was at the Windon Memorial Oct. 8-9. They also combined for the Huskies' lowest team score of the fall, when it posted a 283 in the first round of the Inverness Intercollegiate on Sept. 18. This lineup combined for nine under-par rounds in the fall season.
 
"I feel good about the five we have playing this weekend," said Porten. "They finished the fall strong and have trained been training well heading into the spring."
 
Less Goes Low
Sophomore Jordan Less had NIU's lowest stroke average in the fall at 73.6. Despite having just one top-20 finish in the Huskies' first five tournaments, Less finished in the top-half of the field in four of those five events. Less was one of NIU's most consistent golfers in the fall. He was within two strokes of par or under par in eight of his 13 rounds.
 
Next Up
NIU will stay out west to compete in the Grand Canyon University Invitational March 16-17 at Grand Canyon University Golf Course in Phoenix, Ariz. The Huskies finished seventh in last season's Grand Canyon University Invitational.
 
--NIU--