Men's Golf | February 25
HENDERSON, Nev. – The Northern Illinois University men's golf team finished its first tournament of the spring with a flourish on Wednesday, posting a team score of 11-under par 277 in the final round to tie for third place at the Lake Las Vegas Invitational at Reflection Bay Golf Club.
"This is an impressive start to our spring," said head coach
John Carlson. "All credit to our eight team members for their preparation, work ethic and ability to execute under pressure. We have owned the final round all year and today was no different. That is a building block for our next tournaments at Georgia Southern and Vanderbilt. This team may be young but our belief is high."
The Huskies' 277 on Wednesday is the sixth-lowest 18-hole team score for NIU since 1980. It was the eighth time NIU posted a score under 280 since January of 2021. The Huskies finished with a season-low 54-hole team score of 847, the fourth-lowest score for NIU since 1980. At 17-under par NIU tied with Coastal Carolina for third place. Boise State won the tournament at -23 with Louisiana in second at -19.
Sophomore
Conner McCall (Vandalia, Ill./Vandalia) led the Huskies on Wednesday with a career-best 18-hole score of five-under par 67. He had six birdies on the day, four of which came on the back nine. McCall also had NIU's low round in Monday's opening round with a two-under par 70 highlighted by an eagle on the par-five sixth hole. He finished a career-best tied for sixth with a 54-hole score of seven-under par 209.
Patrick Raupp (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect) improved by five strokes from Tuesday in Wednesday's final round with a four-under par 68, one stroke off his career-best round. He also had six birdies on the day and moved 17 places up the leaderboard into a tie for 24
th at one-under par 215.
Jack Mulligan (Burr Ridge, Ill./Hinsdale Central) had his best round of the week on Wednesday with a two-under par 70. He was also under par on Monday with a 71 and tied for 22
nd at -2.
Junior
Craig Long (Alpharetta, Ga./Milton) had NIU's low score on Tuesday with a four-under par 68 in the second round. He shot even par in the first round and in Wednesday's final round to finish tied for 13
th at four-under par. This is the third tournament this season Long has finished under par and his second top-20 finish.
NIU is back in action March 13-15 at the Schenkel Invitational, hosted by Georgia Southern at Forest Heights Country Club.
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