By Philip Rossman-ReichThe Daily Northwestern

GLENCOE, Ill. – Senior David Merkow stood over the ball as it sat in the bottom of a mound behind the fifth green, his final hole of the day.

He swung the club, popping the ball straight up into the air and landing it comfortably on top of the hill. The ball stuck to the rough surrounding the green, stopping it instantly. Merkow gave an exasperated smile as a day of frustration on the golf course was finally ending.

His final shots exemplified the frustration felt during Northwestern’s final round at the Windon Memorial Classic on Monday. The Wildcats finished in a tie for 7th place, 26 strokes behind tournament winner Southern Methodist.

Freshman Jonathan Bowers, starting the day in 6th place, failed to finish in the top 10 for the first time in his first three tournaments, shooting 10-over 81 in the final round. Bowers finished 15-over for the tournament.

Merkow finished with the best overall score (12-over) for the Wildcats, coming in 17th place. He shot 7-over-par in his final round.

“I hit a lot of good shots but scored poorly,” Merkow said. “It’s frustrating because I feel like any day I could play well.”

Merkow and the Wildcats have depended on his play and the play of Bowers throughout season with other players struggling. However, the two were unable to deliver on Monday.

The other players didn’t fare much better. Dan Doyle finished the tournament 16-over-par, shooting 5-over in the final round to lead all NU players on Monday. Chris Wilson shot 8-over to finish one stroke behind Doyle for the tournament. Kyle Moore shot 6-over, finishing the tournament 23-over.

“We’re not competing hard enough when we struggle,” NU coach Pat Goss said. “We’re not managing our scoring. We’re too practice-oriented instead of play-oriented. We just need to play a little and compete.”

Goss recognized that his team has shown glimmers of what it can do, but the team should be significantly better than those brief flashes by the time the spring season rolls around, he said.

Merkow showed some of this promise on the 18th hole. After he hit his drive into an adjacent fairway on the right, he blasted a shot over a couple trees and landed the ball in the middle of the green near the flag, giving him a good chance at a birdie. However the spark disappeared as he missed the putt by inches, finishing the hole with a par.

He proceeded to make birdie on the next hole but hit only one more par in his final four holes.

“I think everybody is pretty close,” Merkow said. “We all get to see how frustrating it is. I think we can use this for the future.”

The winds were heavy at Skokie Country Club, making the already difficult course even harder. However, Merkow felt they still let an opportunity slip away at their home course despite the conditions.

NU entered the third round tied for 5th after scoring a second-round-best 291 Sunday afternoon. But the momentum from the second round didn’t carry over.

“I think overall we have a very good team,” Goss said. “We just came out struggling.”

SMU senior Colt Knost won the tournament shooting even par on the day and 2-under for the tournament. Kansas sophomore Zach Pederson posted the low round of the tournament, shooting 4-under Monday, including an eagle on the par-4 18th hole. He finished 3rd behind senior teammate Gary Woodland.

The Cats now have two weeks to prepare for the Big Ten/Pac-10 Challenge on Oct. 23-24.

Reach Philip Rossman-Reich at [email protected].