Men's Golf | April 14

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Led by a third-place finish by senior Ben Sluzas (Lockport, Ill./Lockport), the Northern Illinois University men's golf team took seventh place at the Hawkeye Invitational, hosted by Iowa at Finkbine Golf Course.
 
"I was real proud of how we finished today," said head coach John Carlson. "Today was another really difficult college golf day with winds up to 35 miles per hour and we handled it so much better that we had in our previous tournaments. It was great to see Ben back in fine form with three rounds under par."
 
Senior Ben Sluzas (Lockport, Ill./Lockport) was NIU's top finisher, placing third with a 54-hole score of six-under par 210. He had six birdies in his opening round 69 with four on the back nine. Sluzas was the only Huskie to score under par in his second round on Sunday with a one-under par 71 that included an eagle at the par-five 11^th. He was one-under par through his first 11 holes on Monday, then bogeyed the first to go back to even. The senior birdied three of his final four holes to post a two-under 70, the second-lowest score in the final round Monday.
 
Sluzas moved five spots up the leaderboard on Monday to tie his best finish at Iowa, which came in 2023 when he tied for third at -8. This is Sluzas' best finish of the season and his third top-five showing of the year. This weekend marked the second time in his career Sluzas posted three rounds under par in a 54-hole event.
 
"Ben is very comfortable on this course and has played well here in the past," Carlson said. "He's always sharpening his game this time of year, April and May. A two-under par today was really strong. It was easy to have a double on your card today. There were four of five golf shots out there that were as daunting as we've faced the entire year."
 
Freshman Beau Petersen (Gretna, Neb./Gretna) tied his best finish of the year this week, tying for 13^th while playing as an individual. He started play on Sunday with a season-low 66 in the first round. Petersen was one-under par through 10 holes, then birdied holes 10, 11 and 12 to get to four-under. He made an eagle at the par-five 15^th to get to -6. Petersen followed up his 66 with rounds of 74 and 77 to tie for 13^th at one-over par.
 
Felix Krammer (Waakirchen, Germany/Arkansas State) also placed in the top-20, tying for 19^th place at four-over par.  He posted a one-under par 71 in Sunday's opening round with six birdies. Krammer followed that up with an even par 72 in the afternoon. On Monday, Krammer held his position on the leaderboard with a 77. It's his seventh top-20 finish in the last eight tournaments.
 
NIU entered play on Monday in eighth place in the team standings at eight-over par, two strokes behind Minnesota. The Huskies had a team score of 297 in the final round, the third-lowest team score of the day. NIU moved up one place on the leaderboard to finish at +17, two strokes behind Minnesota for sixth place. Kansas won the tournament with Illinois State in second.
 
The Huskies play their final tournament before the Mid-American Conference Championship April 19-20 at the Boilermaker Intercollegiate, hosted by Purdue at Ackerman-Allen Golf Course.
 
--NIU--