Northwestern found ways to overcome the inconsistent play of their two best players in Fresno, Calif.
The Wildcats finished fourth in the Fresno State Lexus Golf Classic despite the team’s top two players, junior Jack Perry and senior Nick Losole, finishing outside the top 25. Coach Pat Goss said the pair did not attack the golf course, which was primed for good scoring.
“It’s going to be hard for us to maintain our level of play without Nick Losole and Jack Perry playing the golf they can,” Goss said. “Both of their games are actually pretty good. This week played into what they’re very good at collectively. They both get a little bit too defensive and they just didn’t make enough birdies.”
While Losole and Perry struggled, Matthew Negri picked up the slack. The sophomore was the only NU player to shoot even par or better in all three rounds, to finish a career-best 11th place. Freshman Andrew Whalen also impressed with a career-best 68 in the final round to move into 12th place overall.
Negri has gotten off to an excellent start to the spring with seven consecutive rounds of par or better.
After shooting a 78 in the opening round of the Puerto Rico Classic, Negri turned his tournament around with back-to-back rounds in the 60s. He said his ball striking ability has improved which has helped him keep his scores low.
Goss agreed, saying Negri’s ball striking has been the major factor in his improved performance over the last few weeks. He said ball striking has gone from being a liability of Negri’s game to being a strength over the winter off-season and it has given Negri a glimpse of how good his game could be.
“For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been hitting the ball pretty well,” Negri said. “Keeping the ball in play and giving myself a lot of birdie opportunities has helped my game a lot.”
NU’s depth was really tested at the tournament, which was a six-count-five format where the top five scores from the six golfers on a team count towards the team’s score. Most of the tournaments NU plays in including the Big Ten and NCAA Championships are in a five-count-four setup.
Goss said he was pleased with how his younger players played as three of his four underclassmen shooting at least one round under par. Negri and Whalen led the bunch, but freshman Josh Jamieson also showed some spurts of good play in the final two rounds.
“We’ve continued to make progress in our lineup,” Goss said. “(The freshmen are) both much improved from last fall as well. Both of them are playing at the level right now where they should be in our lineup.”
Negri said he hopes he can continue his strong play moving forward into NU’s final two spring tournaments and then the Big Ten and NCAA Championships. He said the confidence he has gained the past two events should help him play better in the future.
“Golf seems a lot easier when you have confidence in your game,” Negri said.
