Men’s golf coach Pat Goss started the weekend enthusiastic about his team’s play.

After a rough start to the spring, the Wildcats played one of their best rounds of the season with a 4-over 292 in the second round of last weekend’s Aggie Invitational.

But the struggles quickly returned with a final-round 20-over 308.

“It was disappointing because we had such a solid second round,” Goss said. “But we bookended it with two not-very-good rounds.”

The Cats finished in 11th place and have not placed in the top 10 since October.

Goss said despite the unsuccessful outcome, NU is improving.

Freshman Kyle Moore played the best tournament of his career, finishing tied for 12th place with a 4-over 220.

“Kyle benefitted from the offseason, improving his skills,” Goss said. “But most importantly, he now has the belief he can play with some of the best competition in the country.”

Sophomore Chris Wilson continued his consistent spring with a 6-over 222 to take 18th place, his third top-20 finish of the season.

Wilson’s 74.59 scoring average is lowest on the team this year.

Junior Dillon Dougherty shot a 14-over 230 to take 45th place, freshman Dan Doyle (27-over 243) came in 70th and junior Bryson Young (31-over 247) finished in a tie for 72nd.

The women’s golf team wrapped up its regular season with a sixth-place finish after a 54-over 918 at the Lady Buckeye Invitational last weekend in Columbus, Ohio.

The match broke a string of three top-five finishes for NU.

Sophomore Alice Kim had her best finish of the season, finishing in a tie for third place with a 5-over 221 and picking up her third top 10 of the season.

Kim’s 1-under 71 in the second round put her within striking distance, two strokes behind the leader.

She fired a 2-over 74 in the final round, but Ohio State’s Lindsay Knowlton shot a 4-under 68 to take the individual title, finishing with a 2-under 214.

Michigan State won the team title with a 22-over 886. The host Buckeyes (31-over 895) finished second and Iowa (39-over 903) took third to make it an all-Big Ten top three.

Sophomore Kelly Robb also had her best finish of the year, 20th place, with a 14-over 230. Senior Ina Kim and sophomore Heather Scholten tied for 31st, shooting 18-over 234s. It was only the third time in nine events that Kim finished out of the top 20.

Freshman Brittany Johnston shot a 24-over 240 to take 42nd place, and freshman Katie Trachok tied for 50th place with a 26-over 242.

NU heads to the Big Ten championships this weekend in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Scott Duncan can be reached at [email protected].