After the first day of competition in the NCAA Central Regional tournament at Warren Country Club in South Bend, Ind., Northwestern is in position to qualify for the National Championship tournament.
Led by junior Josh Dupont’s 3-under-par 67, the Cats finished the day tied for fifth at 4-over. The top five teams in the 14-team field will advance to the NCAA National Championships.
NU grabbed an early lead in the tournament as the team’s five competitors combined to birdie six times on the course’s first three holes. But only Dupont was able to maintain the hot performance, recording birdies on six holes, including Nos. 16, 17, and 18, to give himself the second best performance of any individual.
Sophomore Eric Chun jumped out to an early 3-under on the first five holes, but four bogeys on the back nine gave him a 1-over on the day.
Also participating were Big Ten individual champion junior David Lipsky (3-over), senior Jonathan Bowers (3-over) and sophomore Sam Chien (5-over).
If the Cats, ranked No. 50 in the nation according to golfstat.com, hold on to one of the top five spots, it will be the second consecutive year they’ll have qualified for the NCAA National Championship tournament. Last year NU also drew the ninth-seed in the NCAA Regional but managed to move up four spots over the final two days to claim a tie for fourth place.
– Staff Reports
