It may not be the Rose Bowl, but in golf, it’s as close as it gets.

Just days before Northwestern football celebrates the 10th anniversary of its storied trip to Pasadena, Calif., the NU golfers will attempt to prove their worth against their inter-conference rivals in the second-annual Big Ten/Pac-10 Challenge at The Glen Club in Glenview, Ill.

The tournament, which features seven teams from each conference, consists of 36 holes Monday and 18 on Tuesday.

Senior Dillon Dougherty, who went from relative unknown to runner-up at the 2005 U.S. Amateur during the summer, leads an NU squad looking to win its second consecutive tournament in its home state. The Wildcats won last year’s Windon Memorial Classic in Lake Forest, Ill.

The Cats finished sixth at their only event this year, the William H. Tucker Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M. Dougherty led the Cats with a fourth-place finish.

NU also features junior Chris Wilson, runner-up at this summer’s Western Amateur, and sophomore Kyle Moore, record-breaking winner of the Eastern Amateur.

The Wildcats finished fifth at last year’s inaugural event at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Ore., as the Pac-10 won with a combined score of plus-162 to the Big Ten’s plus-192. Wilson led the Cats with a seventh-place finish in the rain-shortened event.

Senior Bryson Young, who hasn’t played for NU in four events, led after one round but shot an 11-over 83 on Tuesday to finish in a tie for 28th.

Minnesota, which tied with Southern California, won the team competition on a tiebreaker. Arizona State’s Alejandro Canizares, the 2003 NCAA champion, took medalist honors.

Canizares and 2005 NCAA champion James Lepp of Washington lead the list of individual contenders in this year’s field. Canizares missed this year’s U.S. Amateur, while Lepp lost in the second round of match play.

Reach Patrick Dorsey at [email protected]