IOWA CITY, IA – Led by a top-20 finish from fifth-year Jordan Less (Elmhurst, Ill./York), the Northern Illinois University men's golf team took sixth place at this weekend's Hawkeye Invitational hosted by Iowa at Finkbine Golf Course.
 
"This was definitely the best team effort that we had the entire year so far," said head coach John Carlson. "At one point we were eight-under par but had some uncharacteristic three-putts and some untimely shots that ended up in bogeys. I'm really proud of the way the guys battled the entire day. We put ourselves in position to finish in the top three at one point today against a really solid field."
 
Less tied for 12^th individually after posting a 54-hole score of one-under par 215. He started the weekend with a two-under par 70 Saturday morning, getting to three-under after back-to-back birdies on holes five and six. A bogey on the seventh put him back to two-under where he finished his opening round. Less had a one-over 73 in his second round Saturday, and an even par 72 on Sunday.
 
Reece Nilsen (Tucson, Ariz./Catalina Foothills) and Russell Matos (Lombard, Ill./Glenbard South) both had the Huskies' low round on Sunday as both golfers carded one-under par rounds of 71. Nilsen was five strokes over par through two rounds, then posted birdies on two of his last five holes Sunday to finish under par on the day. He finished tied for 27^th individually at four-over par. Sophomore Zach Place (Roselle, Ill./Lake Park), playing as an individual this weekend, also finished four-over for the tournament.
 
"Reece has the capability of being one of the top players in the conference and he showed that today," Carlson said. "He had a double bogey on a really difficult par three and bounced back and birdied his last hole, got it up and down from over the green on a par five to shoot under par. The hole locations were difficult today and he handled that well with really solid iron play."
 
Matos, after carding an opening round 80, played his final 36 holes at one under par. With his 71 on Sunday, Matos moved 11 spots up the leaderboard to tie for 38^th at plus-seven. Joining Matos at seven-over for the tournament was junior Tommy Dunsire (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central).
 
As a team the Huskies had their best round of the weekend in Sunday's final round. NIU was one-over par with a team score of 289. The Huskies finished the tournament at 12-over par, three strokes behind fifth-place Toledo. NIU was one shot better than Creighton for sixth place and four strokes ahead of Grand Canyon.
 
NIU plays its final event before the Mid-American Conference Championship at the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate, hosted by Ohio State April 24-25 at the OSU Golf Club.
 
--NIU--