Men's Golf | April 10

BRYAN, Texas – The Northern Illinois University men's golf team played its second tournament of the spring this weekend at the Aggie Invitational, hosted by Texas A&M at Traditions Club. The Huskies finished 12^th in the event, which included six teams in the top 50 of the Golfstat rankings and three in the top 25, with senior Reece Nilsen (Tucson, Ariz./Catalina Foothills/Grand Canyon) finishing in the top-50 individually.
 
"The wind, the firm greens, and tucked hole locations made it a challenging tournament," said head coach John Carlson. "We went up against some of the best teams in the country who did a much better job of handling. The execution of our golf shots was not up to the level that we needed to be to compete well at Traditions. Our game plans were sound and we were ready to go for our first tournament in three weeks."
 
Nilsen rebounded from an opening-round 88 on Saturday morning to post NIU's lowest score in the second round with a three-over par 75. On Sunday, the senior was one of three golfers to post the lowest score of the final round with a 73 in windy conditions. Nilsen was three-over for the day with four holes to play when he birdied the par-three seventh and par-five eighth to get back to one-over. He finished the 54-hole tournament at 20-over par in a tie for 48^th.
 
"Reece's second and third rounds were two of the better rounds of the tournament," Carlson said. "He controlled his ball in the wind better than the rest of the field today. To put up a 73 in the conditions today was arguably one of his best rounds in college."
 
Junior Zach Place (Roselle, Ill./Lake Park) also improved in a big way from his first round to his second. After an opening round 82 Place shot a four-over 76 in the second round. His 76 and Nilsen's 75 helped power the Huskies' best team round of the weekend with a team score of 22-over 310. Place finished the weekend with an 82 Sunday to tie for 64^th at +24.
 
Ben Sluzas (Lockport, Ill./Lockport) improved with each round this weekend. He opened with an 81 Saturday morning, then posted a 79 in round two. On Sunday the freshman had NIU's second-best round with a six-over 78. He finished the tournament in a tie for 56^th at +22.
 
NIU had a team score of +88 952 in the event, 14 strokes behind UTSA for 11^th. The host Aggies won the tournament by eight shots over Arkansas with seventh-ranked Texas Tech in third.
 
"Our focus is continuing to grow as a team and making sure that our strengths stay strengths and that our weaknesses get better with each week as we build towards the MAC Championship," said Carlson. "It's disappointing to come to Texas A&M against a great field and not compete at the level we're used to. Next weekend's tournament at Iowa gives us another opportunity to go play against Midwestern teams and be on a same level playing field now that everyone's been playing."
 
The Huskies are next in action April 16-17 at the Hawkeye Invitational, hosted by Iowa at Finkbine Golf Course.
 
--NIU--