Men’s Golf

When Northwestern learned two weeks ago that its season had come to an end after falling short of an NCAA Regional berth, freshman Dylan Wu switched into offseason mode. That meant cutting down on his practice time, making sure his academics were in order after a long season and prepping for his upcoming midterms.

So when he received a text from head coach David Inglis last Monday, his first thought was that he might be in trouble. The reality, however, was a pleasant surprise.

“Coach said that an opportunity had opened up to compete in the New Haven Regional as an individual after another player had withdrawn,” Wu said. “So obviously that was a bit of a shocker, but I jumped at the opportunity.”

Four days later, Wu found himself in a powerhouse field at The Course at Yale, where he nearly pulled off what had seemed impossible less than a week before. He missed qualifying for the NCAA National Championships by a single shot after stellar rounds of 68-70-69 saw him finish in a 3-under tie for fifth-place.

Wu had been informed that two of his competitors had already posted 54-hole scores of 4-under as he entered the final round’s closing stretch, and he knew that he would need a birdie coming in to have a shot at advancing.

“I really hit some solid shots there at the end of the round, I just didn’t get the putts to fall when I needed them,” he said.

Despite the disappointment of coming up just short, the strong finish caps off an outstanding freshman season that saw Wu earn his first collegiate tournament victory at UCLA’s Gifford Collegiate and establish himself as one of the Big Ten’s top returning players next season.

“It’s been really cool to see how far Dylan has come this year and what he has been able to accomplish,” Inglis said. “He’s shown that he can compete with the very best, and after experiencing the postseason for the first time I know that he’s hungry to get back.”

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