The Northwestern men’s golf team will conclude its fall season this weekend at the Nelson Invitational, hosted by Stanford.

The three-day, 54-hole tournament begins today and will feature 18 collegiate teams from around the country. It will be held at the prestigious Stanford Golf Course in Stanford, Calif.

The Wildcats are looking for their second win of the fall season. The team, which is ranked 5th nationally according to rankings released Tuesday by Golfweek, will face strong competition, including No. 23 Toledo and No. 26 Duke.

In its last competition, NU finished in second place at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational, held Oct. 14 and 15 in Fairfax, Calif. The strong showing helped the Cats climb up the rankings this week from No. 13.

At the MacKenzie Invitational, the Cats were led by junior Tom Johnson, who shot a career-low 65 in the second round and finished the tournament in second place.

If prior invitationals are any indication, NU should be led again this weekend by Johnson, Golfweek’s No. 2-ranked collegiate golfer.

While Johnson leads the team, NU is also paced by seniors Scott Harrington and Bjorn Widerstedt. Harrington, ranked No. 31, finished ninth at the MacKenzie Invitational.

His teammate, Widerstedt, finished in 19th place and is ranked 88th in the nation.

The Nelson Invitational will be the final event of the fall portion of the 2002-03 season. The golfers will resume playing in February.