Men's Golf | April 12

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Sophomore Jack Mulligan (Burr Ridge, Ill./Hinsdale Central) led the Northern Illinois University men's golf team with a top-50 finish at this weekend's Robert Kepler Intercollegiate, hosted by Ohio State at Columbus Country Club.
 
Mulligan tied for 44^th with a 54-hole score of two-over par 218. He led the Huskies in the first round Saturday morning with an even par 72, putting four birdies on his card. After a second round 76, Mulligan moved up 19 places on the leaderboard with a two-under par 70 on Sunday. He got to two-under par on the day with an eagle on the par-five eighth hole, his penultimate hole of the day.
 
Conner McCall (Vandalia, Ill./Vandalia) had his best round of the tournament on Sunday with an even par 72. Like Mulligan, McCall also had an eagle on the day with a three at the par-five 15^th. He finished tied for 56^th with a four-over par 220.
 
"Conner and Jack created a lot of opportunities this week," said head coach John Carlson. "Collectively we needed to see more putts drop. We haven't been able to put complete rounds together as a team yet. At Columbus Country Club the course puts pressure on your short game and we fell short in our execution this week."
 
The Huskies finished 16^th as a team, posting a team score of 20-over par 884 to place seven strokes back of Southern Illinois. NIU's best team round came in the second round on Saturday, a four-over 292. Beau Petersen (Gretna, Neb./Gretna) led the Huskies with a one-under par 71. Craig Long (Alpharetta, Ga./Milton) had his best round of the weekend with an even par 72. Patrick Raupp (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect) had a 74 and McCall rounded out the scoring group with a round of 75.
 
"This is a young team that has learned a great deal this season," Carlson said. "The adversity we're facing now will make us stronger as we prepare for the MAC Championship in three weeks."
 
NIU's final tuneup before the conference championship is next weekend, April 18-19, at Indiana's Hoosier Inviational at The Pfau Course.
 
--NIU--