Men’s Golf
Clinging to hopes of an NCAA Regional championships berth, Northwestern took a step in the right direction last weekend, finishing fifth in the Bruce Fossum/TaylorMade Invitational in East Lansing, Mich.
It was the Wildcats’ first top-five finish since the Big Ten/Pac-10 Challenge in October.
But coach Pat Goss said his team missed out on an opportunity for more.
“It was encouraging and we saw progress, but we had a chance to be much better,” Goss said.
Although the fifth-place finish was the best of the spring, it does not guarantee NU a spot in the NCAA Regional championships. Goss said the fate of his team is still a little uncertain heading into the Big Ten championships.
The Cats, ranked 64th in the Golfweek/Sagarin ratings, beat out only one higher ranked opponent last weekend, No. 54 Indiana.
No. 26 Minnesota won the tournament with a 3-over 867. No. 39 Xavier and No. 78 Illinois tied for second with 6-over 870s, and No. 21 Michigan State took fourth with a 10-over 874.
In order to get into the NCAA Regional championships, sophomore Chris Wilson said NU will likely have to win the Big Ten championships.
After a 9-over 297 in the first round in the Fossum Invitational put them in a tie for ninth place, the Cats had the second-best second round with a 1-under 287 to bring them to fifth place. They pulled into a tie for second place during the final round but fell back to fifth place, three strokes behind host Michigan State.
With the Big Tens beginning Friday, the Cats are coming together at the right time, as three NU players had their best finishes of the spring.
After being held out of the lineup for the Aggie Invitational two weeks ago, sophomore David Merkow returned with a 2-under 214 to tie for fifth place. His 5-under 67 in the final round was the best round of his career at NU.
“I wasn’t driving the ball straight and wanted to get my confidence up,” Merkow said. “I was disappointed I was missing a tournament, but I wasn’t discouraged that I wouldn’t get back in the lineup.”
Merkow took advantage of his first event since the Courtyard by Marriott Intercollegiate on April 9, as he cracked the top five for the first time since the Alister MacKenzie Invitational in October.
Sophomore Chris Wilson continued as the Cats’ most consistent player this spring, finishing in 10th place with a 2-over 218, including a career-low round with a 3-under 69 in the first round.
Wilson lowered his team-leading scoring average to 74.36.
Freshman Dan Doyle and junior Dillon Dougherty also had their best finishes of the spring, as Doyle tied for 27th (7-over 223) and Dougherty tied for 29th (8-over 224).
But despite the strong individual performances, Goss said he believes his team could and should be doing better.
With the Cats’ hopes for a bid in the NCAA championships resting on a championship-winning performance at the Big Tens, the Cats will need to take another step forward.
“We need to take care of business at the Big Tens,” Goss said. “And the easiest way to control our postseason situation is to get the automatic bid by winning the Big Ten tournament.”
The Big Ten tournament begins this Friday in Madison, Wis., where Ohio State is the defending champion.
Reach Scott Duncan at [email protected].
