Men's Golf | September 19

RICHMOND, Va. – Led by two top-10 finishes by Ben Sluzas (Lockport, Ill./Lockport) and Zach Place (Roselle, Ill./Lake Park), the Northern Illinois University men's golf team posted one of its top 54-hole scores in program history in its sixth-place finish at the VCU Shootout which wrapped up play Tuesday at The Country Club of Virginia.
 
The Huskies were one of two teams Tuesday to post a team score of 10-under par 278 in the final round. The other was Lipscomb who won the tournament in a playoff over James Madison. NIU's 278 is the Huskies' fourth-lowest 18-hole team score since 2000.  With a 54-hole score of 845, 19 strokes under par, NIU posted its third-lowest 54-hole score since 1980.  
 
"We had a really good week at The Country Club of Virginia," said head coach John Carlson. "It was a great comeback after a slow start. The first nine holes found us behind all the teams and we were 25-under par in our last 47 holes as a team. It was a very respectable finish against a strong field from the East Coast. This team has a high ceiling and we saw a lot of that great play this week."
 
Sluzas keyed the charge on Tuesday with a career-best 66. Entering the day at three-under for the tournament, he started his round making birdie on his first two holes, then made birdies on the par-five 12^th and par-three 14^th to go to four-under par. The junior then birdied the 18^th and first holes to go to six-under for the day. After carding his lone bogey on the par-four sixth, Sluzas made birdie on his final hole to cap his six-under par round. Sluzas finished the tournament tied for eighth at nine-under par with a career-low 54-hole score of 209.
 
Place also had a career-best round of 66 this week, posting it in Monday's second round. After posting a one-over par 73 in round one, the graduate student made seven birdies in round two to vault 34 places up the leaderboard into a tie for 13^th. Place moved into the top 10 with a three-under par round of 69 on Tuesday, finishing at eight-under par and in a tie for 10^th.
 
"It's so fun to see the milestones and highlights each of those two are making throughout their careers," Carlson said. "They're a joy to coach and they certainly make our team better every single day."
 
Felix Krammer (Waakirchen, Germany/Arkansas State) tied for 33^rd at two-under par. He was one-over par through 36 holes Monday and matched Place with a 69 on Tuesday. Josh Kirkham (Hinsdale, Ill./Bradley) was in the scoring group in all three rounds. He carded a two-under par 70 in Monday's opening round and followed that up with an even par 72 that afternoon. On Tuesday, Kirkham posted a two-over 74 to finish tied for 44^th at even par.
 
"We're seeing consistent leadership on this team already early in the season," said Carlson. "Felix has played the majority of his rounds under par and Ben and Zack have picked up where they left off last year. They haven't skipped a beat, in fact they are playing at an even higher level than they were last year."
 
The Huskies tied Richmond for sixth place at 19-under par, one stroke clear of Florida Atlantic and four ahead of Wright State and Toledo.
 
NIU returns to action October 1-3 at the Badger Invitational hosted by Wisconsin at University Ridge Golf Course.
 
--NIU--