It must feel good to be Kyle Moore.
Not only did the sophomore Northwestern golfer win his first collegiate tournament and pick up another team victory, he did so in front of all of his friends and family on a course he has grown up idolizing.
NU also came away with the team win at the Kepler Intercollegiate.
Normally held at Ohio State’s Scarlet Course, the tournament was moved to the prestigious Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, home to NU golfers Moore and junior Chris Wilson.
Because the tournament was only minutes from Moore’s house, Moore’s entire family was able to attend, and about 60 friends from Ohio State made the short drive down to Dublin to watch Moore play.
“It feels awesome to have my first win, and to do it at home makes it even better,” Moore said. “They had a great influence. It was extra motivation. It’s really fun playing in front of people who want you to succeed. I honestly couldn’t have picked a better event to win my first tournament.”
Playing in front of his friends and family, Moore conquered the course he has always revered, finishing the 54-hole tournament with a 1-under total of 215.
After 54 holes, Moore was tied with Indian’s Seth Brandon, setting up a playoff to determine medalist honors.
On the first hole of the playoff, Moore needed to make a 20-foot par putt in order to match Brandon. Moore drained the putt to extend the playoff to another hole.
On the second hole of the playoff, Brandon hit his second shot into a deep bunker. He was unable to get up-and-down from that spot and carded a bogey. All that stood in between Moore and the trophy was a five-foot par putt, which Moore made to claim medalist honors.
The course, which will host the PGA Tour’s Memorial Tournament in six weeks, was set up similar to how it will be when the professionals arrive.
However, even with the tee box locations and pin positions resembling a PGA Tour setup, coach Pat Goss acknowledged it was still not quite the same.
“Now all you have to do is add thicker rough, move the tees back on the par 3s, make the greens faster, add 40,000 spectators and shoot 16-under for the week and you’re set,” Goss said.
After finishing each of the first three events of the spring in the low-to-mid 30s, Moore had been somewhat frustrated because he thought he was playing well.
“I didn’t do anything differently this week,” Moore said. “Sometimes when you are improving, your finishes don’t always reflect it. I have felt good about my game for a few weeks, and it was only a matter of time before it started to shine through.”
The Wildcats edged out Indiana by four shots for the team championship after starting the day trailing the Hoosiers by four.
Junior David Merkow continued his solid play this spring, finishing two shots behind Moore for third place. In four spring events, Merkow has recorded three top-10 finishes.
Senior Dillon Dougherty, who competed in his first tournament since the Masters, finished 13th, 10 shots behind Moore.
Sophomore Dan Doyle, who had been struggling in the last few events, placed 16th, while Wilson rounded out the NU contingent in 30th place.
“It’s obviously nice to win because I really believe we are the best team in the Big Ten,” Goss said. “To play at that level above those schools is a statement to that. Even though we won, we still believe that we are even better than what we showed.”
After Indiana, the Cats separated themselves from the rest of the 15-team field.
The third place team, Xavier, finished 25 shots behind the Cats.
“One of our goals entering this spring was to re-establish Big Ten dominance,” Wilson said. “We didn’t play great at Purdue, but we definitely did at the Kepler. We want to leave no doubt in people’s minds that we are the team to beat in the Big Ten. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t win the Big Ten Championship.”
Reach Michael Schlossberg at
