Men's Golf | April 23

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Sophomore Ben Sluzas (Lockport, Ill./Lockport) of the Northern Illinois University men's golf team won his second event of the season this weekend, besting the field at the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate hosted by Ohio State at the OSU Scarlet Course which wrapped up on Sunday.
 
"I've had a really good stretch of golf the past three weeks," said Sluzas after Sunday's final round. "I've been building on each week and putting the time in and been really dialed in to what I've needed to work on."
 
Sluzas tied for first place at the Badger Invitational in September. The reigning Mid-American Conference Golfer of the Week opened this weekend's tournament with a two-under par 69 Friday morning, putting him in a tie for second. Sluzas was one-over through five holes, then made an eagle at the par-five sixth and birdied the final three holes on the front nine to get to four-under par. He started his second round with four birdies on the first six holes to get to five-under before play was suspended for the day, giving Sluzas a three-shot lead going into Saturday.
 
The sophomore finished Saturday's second round with a one-under par 70, which put Sluzas back into second place at three-under going into Sunday's final round. Sluzas tied for the lead with Kent State's Chris Vandette with six holes to play. He made par on 11 and 12 as Vandette bogeyed both holes to move back to -1 for the tournament. A third straight bogey by Vandette at 13 gave Sluzas sole possession of first place. He extended his lead to three shots with birdies at 14 and 16 which put him at three-under par for the tournament. Sluzas shot a one-over par 72 in the final round to win by two strokes over Vandette and Ohio State's Jackson Chandler.
 
"I played the front nine really well the first two days, and today was kind of a slow start," Sluzas said. "I just stayed really patient because I knew it was tough conditions and just stuck with the plan throughout the day."
 
"Ben's ball striking was at the highest level it's been this year, and he played the championship golf course that Scarlet is from so far down the fairway that he gave himself so many opportunities for birdies," said head coach John Carlson. "To win by two shots against a great field is definitely something to be proud of."
 
Tommy Dunsire (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) posted his fourth top-10 finish, and second in as many weeks, this weekend with a sixth place showing. The fifth-year senior posted a 54-hole score of three-over par 216. He opened the weekend with a one-over 72 on Friday. Dunsire carded an even-par 71 in the second round. After going two-over par through three holes, Dunsire birdied the sixth hole and the 18^th to finish back at even par. He posted a final round 73 Sunday.
 
"This tournament is a good test for us going into the conference tournament," Carlson added. "Scarlet is one of the top college golf courses in the country. Being able to play against MAC teams as well as Big Ten teams further tests our metal and allows us to see where we're at. I think we're in as a good a place as we've been in a long time as a program."
 
NIU's best round as a team came in Friday's opening round when the Huskies posted a team score of four-over par 288. Sluzas led the way with his two-under par 69. Dunsire and Zach Place (Roselle, Ill./Lake Park) each had one-over par 72s and Ian Bruchhauser (Temecula, Calif./Great Oak) rounded out the scoring group with a four-over 75. The Huskies had a 289 in the second round with Campbell Wolf (Mechanicsburg, Pa./ETSU) getting in the mix with a two-over 73, his best round of the weekend.
 
As a team, the Huskies finished in third place with a team score of +26 878. NIU was five strokes back of Kent State for second place, and six ahead of Penn State and Dayton who tied for fourth place. Ohio State, ranked 25^th in the GolfStat rankings, won the team competition at +2. This is NIU's third third-place finish of the spring.
 
"It's been a few years since anyone has really been able to go toe-to-toe with Kent State and we did that this week," Carlson said. "Ben and Tommy had outstanding performances, but I would say our entire lineup that we'll bring to the MAC Championship will all be rolling with confidence as we head to a southern venue in Canebrake."
 
NIU will next compete at the Mid-American Conference Championship, hosted by Ohio at Canebrake Club in Athens, Ala. April 30-May 2.
 
--NIU--