The Northwestern men’s golf team mirrored the Pacific Northwest’s high winds and low temperatures by posting a mix of high and low scores Monday and Tuesday en route to a fifth-place finish at the Big Ten/PAC-10 Challenge in Bandon, Ore.
Minnesota won the inaugural 14-team event in a tiebreaker over USC. Arizona State’s Alejandro Canizares, winner of the 2003 NCAA individual title, won the tournament with a score of 71-71–142.
Only a few shots separated the Wildcats from the Promised Land; their score of 298-304–602 put them six shots behind the leaders, much to the chagrin of coach Pat Goss.
“We had a chance to beat all these teams,” Goss said. “I know we’re as good as they are, if not better, but we blew our chance.”
NU junior Bryson Young led the way after the first 18 holes with a 2-under 70.
But the Cats could not capitalize on Young’s solid round, as a storm shortened the first day from 36 holes to 18 and the tournament from 54 holes to 36. This stopped Young in the middle of a hot streak, and also left NU in a tie for third with only 18 holes to make up the seven-stroke deficit.
Instead, the Cats went backward, with Young falling out of contention after shooting an 83, and the rest of the team unable to pick up the slack.
Not all was lost, though, as sophomore Chris Wilson shrugged off the weather and fired rounds of 74 and 72 to tie for seventh, a career-best finish.
“I’ve always been a player who played better on tougher courses and in tougher conditions,” Wilson said. “I felt like this tournament, this course and the weather really set up for me well.”
Wilson birdied four of the final nine holes, including 17 and 18.
Senior Dillon Dougherty, coming off his first career victory two weeks ago in California, tied for 14th with a score of 76-74–150.
Young’s 70-83–153 placed him in a tie for 28th, while sophomore David Merkow (78-77–155) tied for 41st and freshman Dan Doyle (81-81–162) struggled to a 65th-place finish.
Goss co-created the tournament, which took place on the 7,040-yard, par-72 Bandon Dunes course and featured seven Big Ten teams and seven from the PAC-10.
The Cats coach still was optimistic despite NU’s disappointing finish in its final tournament of the fall.
“We had good individual performances by every player on the team at some point,” Goss said.
The Cats also defeated every Big Ten team except tournament champion Minnesota and hope to contend at next spring’s Big Ten Championship.
“We can compete nationally,” Goss said. Citing the players’ problems with their short games and managing their bad golf, he added: “We know what we need to work on.”
Women’s Golf
The NU women’s golf team rode a solid Sunday to sixth place in its last fall tournament, Furman University’s three-day, 23-team Lady Paladin Invitational.
The hosts took the team title by one shot over national powerhouse Georgia.
Both teams finished well ahead of the rest of the pack; no other school came within 12 shots of the two pace-setters.
The Cats finished 27 shots back of Furman at 898, using Sunday to jump from a ninth-place tie after two rounds to sixth.
NU’s Ina Kim fired a 76-75-71–222 to tie for 18th, her third top-20 finish this season.
Her Sunday round of 71 was bested by only three players in the field that day.
Alice Kim finished one shot behind her teammate after carding rounds of 75, 75 and 73 for a total of 223. She tied for 27th.
Freshmen Katie Trachok and Brittany Johnston posted impressive individual rounds but proved inconsistent over the three days. After opening the tournament with an even-par 72, Johnson followed with rounds of 82 and 79. Trachok fired a second-round 72 that was bracketed by an 80 and a 78. Trachok tied for 65th, and Johnston finished 77th.
Sophomore Kelly Robb turned in a 76-80-75–231 and tied for 69th. Heather Scholten, competing as an individual and not as a member of Northwestern’s five-player squad, tied for 89th after posting a 77-80-79–236.
Reach Patrick Dorsey at [email protected].
