Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

33° Evanston, IL
Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

Advertisement
Email Newsletter

Sign up to receive our email newsletter in your inbox.



Advertisement

Advertisement

The other side of Augusta (Men’s Golf)

S ince returning from the Masters, Northwestern senior golfer Dillon Dougherty has answered questions – a lot of them.

He has answered them from family. He has answered them from friends. He has answered them from teammates, opposing players, NU students and seemingly just about everybody else.

“I guess everyone wants to hear about it,” Dougherty joked.

He now knows what it is like to be famous. This past weekend at the Kepler Invitational, his first collegiate tournament since the Masters, Dougherty faced a slew of questions from players on opposing teams. Many of the players simply congratulated him, but the players in his group actually asked him questions while playing.

Perhaps the people most interested in his Masters experience are his teammates, who have asked him just about every conceivable question there is.

“We still talk about it all the time,” Dougherty said. “They are always coming up with new questions. ‘Is Vijay long? Is Tiger a nice guy? Who looked good on the practice range? Who did you talk to?’ They want to know about that kind of stuff.”

With all of the continued attention Dougherty has received lately, he has been left wondering how much longer it will continue.

At the same time, however, Dougherty acknowledged the questions will never get old.

“I doubt it will be a whole lot longer,” he said. “It was a great experience, and I love to talk about it. I don’t think I will ever get tired of the questions. They will always be special.”

While Dougherty has been able to continue to relive his Masters experience, things have begun to return to normal for him.

Upon returning from the Masters, he received an immediate reminder that his experience was over within minutes of walking into his apartment. When he collapsed on the couch and tried to turn on his television, he noticed his channel selection was very limited.

Dougherty forgot to pay the cable bill before he left for Augusta.

“My roommate was kind of pissed about that,” Dougherty said. “It was kind of a reality check.”

After a rollercoaster experience, Dougherty was exhausted once it was over and struggled to get back into the swing of things.

He admitted that he had a hard time readjusting to college golf at the Kepler Invitational, where he shot a 7-over 79 in the first round.

“He just got to be on golf’s grandest stage,”coach Pat Goss said. “We’ll have to see how he does back at little old Northwestern.”

However, Dougherty now feels fine and is eager to start looking forward after spending so much time looking backward.

“I feel good,” he said. “The Masters is over. Next weekend we have the Big Ten Championships. I’m ready to go.”

Dougherty will get one final chance to re-orient himself this weekend when the Cats head to East Lansing, Mich., to compete in the Fossum Invitational at Forest Akers West Golf Course.

The 12-team field features 10 Midwest district teams, eight of which are from the Big Ten.

“Every player on this team believes that we are the best team in the Midwest, and we want to prove it,” Goss said.

After answering so many questions about himself, Dougherty’s focus is now on the team.

“We’d like to continue with what we call re-establishing Big Ten dominance,” Dougherty said. “We’d like to win this week and have momentum heading into the Big Ten Championships.”

Reach Michael Schlossberg at [email protected].

More to Discover
Activate Search
Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881
The other side of Augusta (Men’s Golf)