HENDERSON, Nev. – The Northern Illinois University men's golf team closed out the Lake Las Vegas Intercollegiate with its best round of the tournament Wednesday, moving up three spots to finish 12th in the 22-team field at the par 72, 7,204-yard Reflection Bay Golf Club.
 
In Wednesday's third round, the Huskies shot a six-under par 282 to finish at even par 864 for the 54-hole event. NIU's final round score was 16 strokes lower than Monday's first round total and two strokes below the second round 284.
 
"It was a really solid start for the first tournament of the spring," said NIU head coach John Carlson. "We got tested with the weather conditions in the first round. Conditions were firm and fast, and we didn't handle it well the first day. After that our guys came out and proved the type of team that we have. In both of the last two rounds, I thought we had a chance to shoot 5-10 under par. We came out [Wednesday] and finished strong to get to even for the tournament."
 
Senior grad student Zach Place (Roselle, Ill./Lake Park HS) and sophomore Ian Bruchhauser (Temecula, Calif./Great Oak HS) led NIU for the tournament as the duo finished at two-under par 214 to tie for 25th. Bruchhauser posted the lowest score of the day for NIU – and his season low 18 - in Monday's opening round with a three-under par 69, while Place's four-under 68 paced the Huskies in the second round.  Place birdied four of the last five holes Tuesday. Each came in at even-par 72 Wednesday.
 
In the final round, junior Felix Krammer (Waakirchen, Germany/Gymnasium Tegernsee) carded the low round of the tournament by a Huskie with a five-under par 67, marking the best round of his NIU career. Krammer shot even par 216 to tie for 41st. He posted six birdies in each of his last two rounds and was one of three Huskies – including freshman Craig Long (Alpharetta, Ga./Milton HS), who played as an individual – to make six birdies Wednesday.
 
"We showed that we have some depth," Carlson said. "The par 5s at this golf course were shorter and allowed for more birdies. We have better short games this year and the guys holed putts when they needed to and eliminated three putts."
 
Overall, the Huskies totaled 10 rounds of even par or lower. Graduate student Josh Kirkham (Hinsdale, Ill./Fenwick HS) contributed a one-under par 71 in the final round for his best round of the tournament while junior Ben Sluzas (Lockport, Ill./Lockport HS) shot a one-over 73 to come in at six-over 222.
 
Long shot 72-70 in the final two rounds and finished at 10-over par 226.
 
"We showed that we have some depth," Carlson said. "We're going to be led by Zach, Ben and Felix, and Ian proved that he's ready to be a mainstay in the line-up as he was at the end of last year.  It was outstanding to see [individual] Craig Long shoot two rounds under par to finish his tournament." 
 
NIU, the defending Mid-American Conference Champions, are next in action March 11-12 at the Tiger Invitational in Auburn, Alabama.  
 
12. NIU (Team)                       298      284      282      864 (E)                       
 
T25. Zach Place                      74        68        72        214 (-2)
T25. Ian Bruchhauser             69        73        72        214 (-2)
T41. Felix Krammer                78        71        67        216 (E)
T83. Ben Sluzas                      77        72        73        222 (+6)
T112. Josh Kirkham                79        79        71        229 (+13)
 
T104. Craig Long (Ind.)          84        72        70        226 (+10)
 
 
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