Men's Golf | May 3

ZIONSVILLE, Ind. – Sophomore Patrick Raupp (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect) of the Northern Illinois University men's golf team is the clubhouse leader after the first round of the 2026 Mid-American Conference Championship at The Club at Holliday Farms after posting an opening round 69 on Sunday.
 
"Today was a great start for Patrick," said head coach John Carlson following the first round. "He was solid off the tee and controlled his golf ball. His putting has improved recently and it showed today."
 
Raupp was the only golfer of the four that shot under par on Sunday to go under 70 on the par-71 course. The sophomore was three-under on the front nine, highlighted by an eagle on the par-four eighth hole. Raupp was four-under par with three holes to go but bogeys on 16 and 18 led to his round of 69. He holds a one-shot lead over Eastern Michigan's Rory Obrien and Joshua Hess and Miami's Liam Nelson who all carded one-under par 70s on Sunday. Raupp is the 13^th Huskie in program history to card a round under 70 at the MAC Championship.
 
Devin Swoyer (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale Central) also finished the day in the top-10. After a 41 on the front nine, Swoyer shot 33 on the back nine to finish with a round of three-over par 74 to tie for seventh place. The redshirt-freshman had two birdies and an eagle on the par-four 13^th in the final nine holes.
 
"The back nine played about a stroke harder than the front today, so Devin's 33 was one of the lower scores in that stretch today," Carlson said. "He drove the ball well and found some momentum on the greens late."
 
Craig Long (Alpharetta, Ga./Milton) posted an opening round 76 on Sunday. The junior had a bogey-free two-under par 34 on the front nine but shot 42 on the back to be in the group tied for 19^th place. Beau Petersen (Gretna, Neb./Gretna) rounded out the NIU scoring group on Sunday with a seven-over par 78.
 
"Overall, today was a real solid start," said Carlson. "We had more quality shots and more birdies than we have in our last couple tournaments. We just need to keep the double bogeys off the card. That will go a long way to us being in the hunt for a MAC title. Holliday Farms is a difficult track, especially with the gusting winds we had today. It has a log of undulating greens that were particularly firm."
 
NIU posted a team score of +13 297 on Sunday which put the Huskies in third place. Miami is one stroke ahead in second place at +12. Eastern Michigan leads after the opening round at +4.
 
Monday's second round begins at 8 a.m. CT.
 
--NIU--