SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - The Northern Illinois University men's golf team opened its spring slate this week at the Missouri State Intercollegiate, hosted by Missouri State at Millwood Golf and Racquet Club. Battling cold and rainy conditions, the Huskies finished the 54-hole tournament in third place.
"Our last 36 holes were the second-best of any team in the tournament this week," said head coach
John Carlson. "Unfortunately, round one put us behind. I'm really proud of the way that all five of our guys played with a determination that we saw towards the end of fall."
Freshman
Ian Bruchhauser (Temecula, Calif./Great Oak) was the top finisher for NIU, taking second place with a season-best 54-hole score of three-under par 210. Bruchhauser was the lone Huskie to score under par in Monday's first round with a two-under 69. He carded a two-over 73 in the second round. On Tuesday, Bruchhauser posted a team-low 68 with four birdies against one bogey. He finished the event two strokes behind Brandon Hoff of Oral Roberts for first place.
"Ian was outstanding this week," Carlson said. "He has been shooting consistently under par in our practice rounds and he was outstanding off the tee this week. Ian was great with his irons and hit a lot of shots within 20 feet of the hole to give himself a lot of scoring opportunities. He handled the elements well today with 41-degree weather and pouring rain."
NIU battled back from a 13-over par first round with a two-under par 282 in Monday's second round.
Tommy Dunsire (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) and
Zach Place helped spearhead that rally. Dunsire had his best round of the tournament with four-under par 67, with five birdies on his card.
Zach Place (Roselle, Ill./Lake Park) had six birdies in his round and carded a three-under 68.
Ben Sluzas (Lockport, Ill./Lockport) was also in the scoring group with a three-over par 74 to go with Bruchhauser's 73.
Sluzas had his best round of the week on Tuesday with a one-over 72, highlighted by an eagle on the par-five second hole. Place also had a one-over 72 and Dunsire posted a two-over par 73.
Dunsire had his third top-10 finish of the season, tying for 10
th place at two-over par. Place tied for 18
th at four-over par for his best finish of the year to date.
NIU took third place at 12-over par, playing the last two rounds at one-under. The Huskies were three strokes clear of fourth-place Kansas City and seven ahead of the hosts Missouri State. Oral Roberts took the team title at two-over par, two strokes ahead of Wichita State.
"We're trending in the right direction," said Carlson. "This is a great start to our spring and something we can build off of. This team has the talent and grit needed to win a Mid-American Conference championship."
The Huskies are back in action March 30-April 1 at The Goodwin, hosted by Stanford at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, Calif.
--NIU--
