Men's Golf | April 12

FRANKLIN, Tenn. - The Northern Illinois University men's golf team took on another stacked field this week at the Mason Rudolph Championship, hosted by Vanderbilt at the Vanderbilt Legends Club. The Huskies finished 12^th in a field that included the number one team in the nation Vanderbilt, as well as Tennessee, Mississippi and Mississippi State who are all ranked in the top-25 of the Bushnell/Golfweek DI Coaches Poll and four other programs ranked in the GolfStat top 50.
 
"I've made it a point to schedule the best competition and the best tournaments we possibly can," said head coach John Carlson. "Vanderbilt was a great experience from not only going against the top teams in the country but also playing a championship golf course at Vanderbilt Legends Club."
 
After a team score of 17-over par 301 on Monday, the Huskies posted their lowest round of the season on Tuesday. NIU posted a four-under par 280, besting its previous low of 281 set at the Quail Valley Collegiate Invitational in October. Tommy Dunsire (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) led the Huskies with a four-under par 67, a nine-stroke improvement from his opening round Monday. He played the back nine at three-under with birdies at 17 and 18 to cap the day.
 
"I committed to sticking to my process and staying in the moment, and I saw a couple putts drop early in the second round and that built some momentum," said Dunsire on his second round. "I couldn't really catch fire with the putter in the first round, so seeing those first couple putts go in helped me get on track."
 
Ben Sluzas (Lockport, Ill./Lockport) improved by five strokes on Tuesday with a round of one-under par 70. The sophomore made an eagle at the par-five 18^th to finish the back nine at two-under. Campbell Wolf (Mechanicsburg, Pa./ETSU) made a six-shot improvement with a round of even par 71. Ian Bruchhauser (Temecula, Calif./Great Oak) rounded out the scoring group in the second round with a one-over par 72, putting four birdies on his scorecard.
 
"We have to have our best players play well everyday," Carlson said. "Tommy's 67 certainly carried the momentum over to the rest of the team. All five scores were a counting score for most of the day. We drove the ball in play and really executed on the par-fives. That score of four-under par is something we have seen in practice and was among one of the best of the day against some top competition."
 
Sluzas was NIU's low scorer in Wednesday's final round with a score of even par 71. He finished the tournament tied for 33rd at three-over par with a 54-hole score of 216. Dunsire also finished in the top 50, as his final round 75 put him in a tie for 46th at five-over par. Zach Place (Roselle, Ill./Lake Park) was also in the scoring group Wednesday with a three-over par 75 after back-to-back rounds of 74 to open the tournament. He finished the 54 holes with a score of seven-over par in a tie for 54^th.
 
"This week, particularly rounds two and three, characterized where NIU golf is at right now," Carlson said. "We just need to put together a complete 54 holes. Our guys hung in there today. We've been able to put together stretches of 18 and 36 holes, but we need to be consistent over a complete 54 holes."
 
NIU finished with a team score of 877, 12 strokes over par. The Huskies were eight strokes better than 13^th place Mercer. Vanderbilt won the event by 23 strokes over Tennessee.
 
On Saturday, April 15 NIU begins play in the Hawkeye Invitational, hosted by Iowa at Finkbine Golf Course.
 
--NIU--