The Northwestern men’s golf team withstood brisk temperatures and a biting wind to win its own Windon Memorial Classic at Lake Forest’s 6,849-yard, par-71 Conway Farms Golf Club on Tuesday.
“It was kind of a long day, ” senior Dillon Dougherty said, “but once we all got in and realized we won, we were all really excited.”
The win came thanks to some gutsy, grind-it-out play from the Wildcats.
NU held off 17 other teams, including four ranked in the top 25, to take the two-day, 54-hole event by four shots over No. 23 Duke, 865-869.
Tuesday’s triumph marked NU’s first tournament win since February 2003. It was also the team’s second Windon victory in three years.
Defending Windon champion and No. 24 Minnesota was the only other ranked team, besides Duke to finish in the top five.
Purdue and Kent State finished in a tie for third, while the more lauded teams — No. 16 Oklahoma and No. 19 California, the defending NCAA champion, — took 11th and 13th, respectively.
None of these teams seemed to faze the Cats, as NU golfers overcame a seven-stroke deficit and fourth-place standing after the first round — not to mention finishes of 10th (out of 13 teams) and 9th (out of 15) in their first two events this season.
Dougherty led the Cats, finishing sixth overall at 2-over par (73-71-71–215). He finished three strokes off the pace of Purdue’s Peter Richardson (70-68-74–212), who was the only player to break par and became the Windon’s first repeat champion.
The tournament typically consists of 36 holes on Monday and the final 18 on Tuesday, took on an unusual format after darkness halted play Monday and golfers had to finish their second rounds early Tuesday before beginning their final 18.
This gave NU little time to sit on the lead, which it had captured after all scorecards were in following the first 36 holes.
But it hardly mattered.
Dougherty overcame a rough start in his third round when he bogeyed three of his first five holes.
He promptly got his game back on track, birdieing holes 6, 7 and 8 to get back to 2-over, where he would finish despite ball-striking problems.
“I didn’t hit it very well all week,” Dougherty said. “(But) I just kept it in play and just chipped and putted.”
In addition to the lone senior’s superb performance, sophomore David Merkow had a strong tournament, finishing tied for ninth (74-73-70–217).
Perhaps most impressive was junior Bryson Young, who shook off a poor opening round to finish tied for 14th (80-69-70–219).
“Bryson showed some great resilience and character when he came back,” coach Pat Goss said. “He didn’t let that 80 influence him at all.”
Also on the course for NU were freshman Dan Doyle (75-71-76–222) and sophomore Chris Wilson (72-75-76–223).
Northwestern’s next event is the Alister MacKenzie Invitational in Fairfax, Calif., on Monday and Tuesday hosted by California.
Reach Patrick Dorsey at [email protected].
