Tuesday would have been a good day for Casey Strunk, even without his second-place finish at the Windon Memorial Classic. That’s because the senior played his final round in front of his father, Greg, a former Northwestern football player.
“It is always great to have your dad out there. I definitely was more loose and had a lot more fun out there,” said Strunk, who had his father at his side for the final round. “I just wanted to play well for him and for myself.”
Strunk shot a 1-over-par 73 in the first round Monday but followed it up in the afternoon with a spectacular 5-under 67, which put him tied for third and five shots behind eventual tournament winner Peter Richardson of Purdue after Day 1 at North Shore Country Club in Glenview, Ill.
In the final round, Strunk’s short game carried him to another productive day, especially when he ran into trouble late on the back nine.
Strunk flew the green on the par-3 16 onto the fringe. Faced with an uphill lie, he escaped trouble by two-putting off the edge of the rough to save par.
After making birdie on 17, Strunk hit his second shot into the bunker on the par-4 18. In peril of losing his place near the top of the leaderboard, Strunk pitched a beautiful sand wedge within 5 feet to save par, finishing 1-under 71.
Although Richardson’s lead proved to be insurmountable, it did not take away from Strunk’s career-best performance.
“This was definitely better than normal for me,” Strunk said. “It feels great to do so well at our home event, and it was a fun week.”
Richardson captured the individual title with a 10-under 206, matching a 54-hole record set last fall by NU’s Tom Johnson, the Windon’s defending individual champion.
Strunk’s 5-under 211 was matched by Illinois’ Joe Affrunti and Minnesota’s Justin Smith.
As for the team performance, it was both positive and negative for defending champion NU.
This week the Wildcats finished in fifth place out of 17 teams, a drastic change from the 13th-place finish last week at the Inverness Intercollegiate Invitational in Toledo, Ohio.
“We did a little better than where we were at last week, and we are making progress,” coach Pat Goss said. “We just need to continue to get better and make sure we are a good team when it counts in April and May.”
But NU’s performance in the final round exposed a serious problem. The Cats had put themselves in contention for a victory after Day 1, but could not maintain their momemtum.
The Cats sat in fourth place and eight shots back after two rounds , but they faltered in the final round to finish in fifth place and 19 strokes back of the team champion, Minnesota, which won its third Windon crown.
“The conditions were tougher,” Goss said. “(California) just played really well in the final round and was able to get past us.”
The Golden Gophers finished nine strokes ahead of Purdue and California. Minnesota shared the Windon title in 1994 with Texas A&M and won it in 1998.
Also contributing to NU’s team total were senior T.C. Ford (70-74-79–223), who found himself in 15th at even par after two rounds, junior Dillon Dougherty (78-75-74–227) and sophomore Bryson Young (79-74-75–228).
Johnson, who found himself in ninth place at 1-under on the leaderboard after two rounds, blamed himself for the team’s failings. Johnson shot an 8-over 80 on the final day to finish in a tie for 28th.
“I blew it for the team,” Johnson said. “If I shoot 10 shots better (in the final round), we are in a much better place for the tournament. I blew it, plain and simple.”
