Men’s golf places 12th at Lake Las Vegas Invitational

Place, Bruchhauser finish tied for 25th

By Eddie Miller, Sports Reporter

February 28, 2024

Graduate student Zach Place studies his shot at the MAC Championship in May. Place tied for 25th at the Lake Las Vegas Invitational on Tuesday. (Courtesy of Taylor Strnad)

NIU men’s golf wrapped up the Lake Las Vegas Invitational placing 12 out of 22 teams in its first tournament of the spring. Graduate student Zach Place and sophomore Ian Bruchhauser led the Huskies, finishing tied for 25th place.

The Huskies improved every round of the tournament, shooting a tournament-high 298 in the first round. NIU improved it’s score by 14 strokes in the second round, shooting a 284. The Huskies rounded out the tournament with a score of 282 in the third round, their lowest of the tournament.

In the first round, Bruchhauser set his season-low round score of 69 – one stroke more than his career low. Bruchhauser parlayed his first round score with a 73 in the second round and closed the tournament with a score of 72.

Place started the tournament off slow with 74 strokes in the first round, but recovered with his tournament low score of 68 in the second. After moving up to 17th place, 72 strokes in the third round dropped Place eight spots on the leaderboard.

Place and Bruchhauser finished the tournament each shooting a 214, two-under par.

Junior Felix Krammer was NIU’s third best golfer, finishing the tournament tied for 41st place. Krammer’s first round was his worst, leaving day one with a score of 78. Krammer improved by seven strokes to 71 in the second round and found the team’s lowest score of the tournament in the third, shooting a 67.

The fourth placed golfer for the Huskies was junior Ben Sluzas, placing tied for 83rd place. Sluzas shot a 77 in the first round, his highest of the tournament. Sluzas improved to a score of 72 in the second round and finished the tournament shooting a 73 in the third.

Graduate student Josh Kirkham rounded out NIU’s lineup, finishing tied for 111th place. Kirkham opened the tournament with back-to-back scores of 79 in the first two rounds. Kirkham finished the tournament shooting a 71.

UP NEXT

The Huskies next tournament is the Tiger Invitational hosted by Auburn University, a two day event stretching from March 11 to March 12 at University Club in Auburn, Alabama.