Men's Golf | October 10

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Fifth-Year Zach Place (Roselle, Ill./Lake Park) posted his best finish of the fall with a fourth-place showing at Purdue Fall Invitational, which wrapped play on Tuesday at Ackerman-Allen Golf Course.
 
Place was tied for the individual lead of the tournament after 18 holes on Monday with a four-under par 67, one stroke shy of tying his career-best round. He birdied three of his last four holes in the round to get into that tie for first place. In his second round, Place eagled the par-four 10^th hole to highlight a round of 68 which put him one stroke back of tournament leader Valentin Peugnet of Illinois State. Place had NIU's top round on Tuesday, posting a final round 72 to finish fourth with a 54-hole score of six-under par 207. That score ties his career-best 54-hole score set at last season's NCAA Regional.
 
"Zach was outstanding all week," said head coach John Carlson. "He was patient, attacked the course when in position and showed improvement with his short game. This was a great tournament for him to have the finish he did with a field of many top individuals."
 
As a team, NIU was in third place after Monday's first round at three-under par. The Huskies moved into a tie for the lead with Illinois State in the second round. Junior Ben Sluzas (Lockport, Ill./Lockport) posted his second straight round of 68 to match Place's 68. Josh Kirkham (Hinsdale, Ill./Bradley) also shot under par for the second straight round, posting back-to-back 70s on Monday. Felix Krammer (Waakirchen, Germany/Arkansas State) rounded out the scoring group with a two-over par 73, as NIU was five-under par as a team for the round.
 
The Huskies had a team score of 301 in Tuesday's final round, finishing in eighth place at nine-over par. NIU was three strokes behind UNLV for seventh place and four back of sixth-place Miami. Purdue rallied in the final round to win its fall tournament by one stroke over Illinois State.
 
"We competed like a championship team for the first 47 holes this week at Purdue," Carlson said. "A stretch of two holes played at 13-over par proved costly today. The wind, firm greens and hole locations contributed to this event being one of the biggest challenges of our fall slate."
 
Sluzas recorded his third top-20 finish of the fall, tying for 12^th place with a 54-hole score of even par 213. Kirkham had his best finish of the season to date with a 30^th place at four-over par.
 
The Huskies wrap up their fall schedule at the Quail Valley Collegiate Invitational, hosted by Michigan State at Quail Valley Golf Club in Vero Beach, Fla. Oct. 15-16.
 
--NIU--