Men's Golf | April 20

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Senior Ben Sluzas (Lockport, Ill./Lockport) posted his third consecutive top-10 finish this weekend at the Boilermaker Invitational at Purdue's Ackerman-Allen Golf Course, tying for seventh with a 54-hole score of four-under par 209. The Huskies as a team finished 11th out of 18 teams at nine-over par.

Sluzas started Saturday with a four-over par 75 in the first round and out of NIU's scoring group. He bounced back in the second round 67 in Saturday's second round, making three birdies and an eagle on the par-five 16th. On Sunday Sluzas carded another four-under par 67. He birdied holes 14, 15 and 16 to get to three-under on the day and added another on the par-three seventh in a bogey-free round. After being tied for 65th after the first round, Sluzas finished tied for seventh at -4 for his fourth top-10 in the last five tournaments.

"Ben was nearly flawless in the last 36 holes," said head coach John Carlson. "He didn't hit the ball poorly in the first round, he just didn't get it up and in on a few of his early chances. The weather was tough enough Saturday with that rain that he just couldn't really be on offense for the rest of that round. He was in the fairway more often in the final two rounds and gave himself so many opportunities on the greens. That's a big momentum builder as we head to the MAC Championship."

Felix Krammer (Waakirchen, Germany/Arkansas State) tied for 31st at one-over par. He started Saturday with a one-over par 72, following it up with a two-under par 69 that had four birdies on the scorecard. Krammer posted a two-over par 73 on Sunday. Freshmen Patrick Raupp (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect) and Beau Petersen (Gretna, Neb./Gretna) both finished at seven-over par. Raupp had the Huskies' lowest score in round one with a one-under 70. He was two-over par through his first nine holes, then birdied three holes on the front nine. Petersen had rounds of 72, 75 and a final round 73 on Sunday.

"Ben and Felix have been our leaders both on and off the golf course all year, and the young guys really stepped up this week," said Carlson. "Both Beau and Patrick contributed in a big way to really solid results. Our scores are indicative of having two or three players each round play well and next week we hope we can get all five going at the same time."

The Huskies had three rounds of three-over par 287 to finish 11th at +9. NIU was four strokes back of 10th place Miami. Ball State was eighth at -3 with Toledo ninth at two-over par. Marquette won the tournament at -16, two strokes ahead of the hosts Purdue.

"If you look at the results this weekend, it's going to be a really competitive MAC Championship at Pinnacle Golf Club," Carlson said. "Each of the top five teams in the MAC all believe that their team is good enough to win and we just have to go settle it on the golf course. It was a good preview to see just how close next week is going to be. Our team is good enough to compete with anyone in the MAC and certainly on the national level."

NIU now prepares for the 2025 Mid-American Conference Men's Golf Championship at Pinnacle Golf Club in Grove City, Ohio. Play begins on Sunday, April 27 and goes through Tuesday, April 29.

—NIU—