Men's Golf | April 28

GROVE CITY, Ohio – The Northern Illinois University men's golf team finished the second round of the 2025 Mid-American Conference Men's Golf Championship at Pinnacle Golf Club in third place after posting a team score of one-under par 287.
 
NIU entered Monday tied with Eastern Michigan at -3. The Eagles and Kent State pulled away on the front nine in round two, with Eastern Michigan playing at four-under par to get to -7 while the Golden Flashes were -6 on the first nine. Eastern Michigan and Kent State finished the day with rounds of -12 276, giving the Eagles a three-shot lead over the Golden Flashes heading into Tuesday's final round. NIU was one-under par on the day, which puts the Huskies at -4 for the tournament and eight shots behind Kent State. Ball State is fourth at +1.
 
"The hole locations today were favorable for birdies," said head coach John Carlson. "It was a really fun day competing with our team. It was three teams out there that had five guys that were all playing well. Today came down to the last seven holes. We made a few bogeys and Eastern Michigan and Kent State got hot."
 
Senior Felix Krammer (Waakirchen, Germany/Arkansas State) had NIU's lowest score of round two with a two-under par 70. Krammer was one-over par through nine holes and played the second nine at three-under with no bogeys. Krammer is tied for ninth going into the final round at -1.
 
"It was a great round by Felix," Carlson said. "Seventy is always a good round at Pinnacle. We're going to need great rounds from our seniors tomorrow. They need to lead us in the final round of the Championship in the hopes that we'll put ourselves in a position to be in the hunt with nine holes to play."

Craig Long (Alpharetta, Ga./Milton) carded an even par round of 72 and is third on the individual leaderboard at four-under. Long made par on 16 of the 18 holes Monday, making a bogey at the fifth and a birdie on 11.
 
"Craig has been very solid through 36 holes," said Carlson. "Today was much like yesterday, but he made a few more putts in the first round. He put himself in a position to be there for the individual championship. His game plan for Pinnacle has really shown through in the way that he has maneuvered his way around the course and hitting the right shots at the right times."
 
Ben Sluzas (Lockport, Ill./Lockport) had a second consecutive round of even par 72 and is tied for 13^th. He was two-under for the day after back-to-back birdies on the third and fourth holes. However, Sluzas had two bogeys on the back nine to go back to even for the day. Beau Petersen (Gretna, Neb./Gretna) rounded out the NIU scoring group on Monday with a one-over par 73. Patrick Raupp (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect) also had a round of 73 on Monday.
 
Tuesday's final round begins at 8 a.m. CT. The Huskies will start taking the course at 8:50 a.m. and will be paired with Eastern Michigan and Kent State for the second consecutive day.
 
"We're still in this championship and are contenders," Carlson said. "If we turn the tables on the final nine holes, just like Kent State and Eastern Michigan did, it's going to be a real tight team race tomorrow and I'm looking forward to it."
 
--NIU--