Men's Golf | March 12

AUBURN, Ala. - Led by a top-20 showing from junior Felix Krammer (Waakirchen, Germany/Arkansas State), the Northern Illinois University men's golf team tied for 13th at the Tiger Invitational by Jason Dufner at the Auburn University Club which concluded on Tuesday.

"This was the hardest course setup I've seen in my 14 years as a head coach," said NIU head coach John Carlson. "The greens were the firmest I've seen. The demand the course put on you from the length to the speed of the greens, it was tough to handle even for the number one team in the country on their home course."

Krammer was NIU's top finisher, tying for 18th place with a 54-hole score of 11-over par 227. After posting an opening round six-over par 78 on Monday morning, Krammer bounced back to be the Huskies' low scorer in each of the final two rounds. His second-round 75 and final round 74 helped Krammer move 11 spots up the leaderboard for his third top-20 of the season.

"Felix was great from start to finish," Carlson said. "He's an outstanding ball striker. He was able to have really good distance control with his irons, kept the ball in play off the tee and got it up and down when he needed to."

NIU's second round was it's lowest of the tournament. Led by Krammer's 75 and rounds of 77 from Ben Sluzas (Lockport, Ill./Lockport) and Ian Bruchhauser (Temecula, Calif./Great Oak), the Huskies had a team score of 22-over 310. Josh Kirkham's (Hinsdale, Ill./Bradley) 81 rounded out the scoring in that round.

Bruchhauser and Sluzas both had rounds of 77 in the first and second rounds. Sluzas capped his tournament with his lowest round of the three, a four-over par 76, in the final round to finish tied for 32nd with a 54-hole score of 14-over par 230.

"This week was a test of patience in all facets of our game. We have a team that is very confident and that can play championship-style golf. It was a big test for all the teams in the field, one that we'll learn from as we get ready for another tough field at Vanderbilt."

The Huskies tied with Southern Mississippi for 13th place with a 54-hole team score of +71 935. Both teams were one stroke behind Richmond for 12th and one ahead of Toledo for 15th. Auburn, the top-ranked team in the nation, won its home event by 15 shots over Florida Gulf Coast.

NIU returns to action at Vanderbilt's Mason Rudolph Championship at the Vanderbilt Legends Club in Franklin, Tenn. April 5-7.

—NIU—

Individual Results
T18. Felix Krammer - 78-75-74=227 (+11)
T32. Ben Sluzas - 77-77-76=230 (+14)
T57. Ian Bruchhauser - 77-77-82=236 (+20)
T80. Zach Place - 79-82-83=244 (+28)
T84. Josh Kirkham - 83-81-82=246 (+30)