DeKALB – A second place finish from freshman Ian Bruchhauser led the Huskies to a top-three team finish in NIU men’s golf first tournament of the spring competition season in Springfield, Missouri at the Missouri State Intercollegiate. 

Bruchhauser finished the first round two-under par shooting a 69. After shooting two-over par in the second round, Bruchhauser finished the third round shooting three-under par. Bruchhauser went on to a final score of 210 in the tournament, earning him second place overall. 

Bruchhauser’s performance led to the Huskies opening the spring season finishing in third place. NIU’s last top-three finish came in the 2021-22 season at the Xavier Invitational on Oct. 19, 2021. 

The Huskies finished with a score of 864. NIU shot two under with a score of 282 in the second round, the Huskies’ best round of the day. 

Graduate student Tommy Dunsire was NIU’s second-best golfer in the tournament, finishing tied for 10th place. Dunsire was four-over par in the first round, then finished the second round four-under par. The second round was Dunsire’s best, shooting a 67. Dunsire finished the tournament shooting two-over par in the third round. 

Sophomore Ben Sluzas had a slow first tournament as tied for 33rd place. Sluzas shot five-over par in the first round, three-over par in the second and one-over par in the third round, finishing the tournament with a score of 222. 

The Huskies next tournament will be an all-day event from March 30 to April 1 at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco. The Huskies will compete in The Goodwin – a tournament hosted by Stanford University. Live scoring will be available on GolfStat.