With six tournaments ahead of the Mid-American Conference Championship, NIU men’s golf enters the spring season with an even split of veteran leadership and youthful talent.

NIU’s lineup contains three graduating seniors: Ben Sluzas, Felix Krammer and Patrick Bruminhent – all experienced members of the team. The Huskies also have four freshmen on the roster: Patrick Raupp, Conner McCall, Jack Mulligan and Beau Petersen – all of which competed in the lineup during the fall. 

“The young players on our team have been blessed to have three seniors to look up to,” NIU men’s golf head coach John Carlson said. “From an experience standpoint, preparation standpoint, whether that’s in practice or pre/post round of the tournaments. The three seniors have all stepped up.” 

The Huskies open the season Monday, competing in the Lake Las Vegas Intercollegiate. NIU goes into the intercollegiate behind Carlson, who enters his sixth season at the helm of the men’s golf team. 

In the last three seasons, Carlson has guided the Huskies’ to three consecutive top-three finishes at the MAC tournament. The highlight: a MAC Championship victory to cap off the 2023 spring season. 

“He (Carlson) loves golf, he loves NIU, he loves to develop every one of us,” Krammer said. “His main goal is to make the team as good as possible. But you know how it is, you have to make every player the best version of himself to get there, and he’s really good at that.” 

Throughout the fall, the Huskies recorded two top-ten placements including a victory at the Badger Invitational on Oct. 1.

Krammer enters the spring as NIU’s marquee golfer after leading the team with a 72.27 scoring average in the fall. 

Rounding out a two-year career at NIU, Krammer shared his goals for his final season of collegiate golf. 

“I still want to win a tournament in my college career,” Krammer said. “Other than that, definitely making it to regionals with the team.” 

Although he posted three top-15 finishes, a top-10 finish and a top-three finish in the fall, Krammer has yet to win a tournament outright. His best tournament was at the Badger Invitational, which was a historic performance by Krammer. 

Krammer finished in second overall, leading NIU to its sole tournament victory of the fall. He also posted his best round of the season at the Badger Invitational, carding 64 strokes to match NIU’s 18-hole scoring record all while setting a career-high. 

Closely behind Krammer is Sluzas, who averaged 73.07 strokes per round in the fall – second on the team. Sluzas’ best tournament of the fall was also the Badger Invitational, in which he tied for fifth place. Alongside Krammer, Sluzas is a core member of the team with a history of success. 

Krammer touched on the duo’s relationship after two years of competing together. 

“I’ve been good friends with Ben (Sluzas) since last year already, but being the two main leaders on the team this year has formed that relationship deeper,” Krammer said. “There’s not only that friendship, but there’s also deep respect for the playing abilities of each other on the course. So, I have high respect and look up to Ben.” 

Leading the class of freshmen, Raupp finished as the Huskies’ third best golfer in the fall, logging a scoring average of 73.58. Across the four tournaments he competed in, Raupp’s best performance came at the Gopher Invitational on Sept. 9. 

At the Gopher Invitational, Raupp led the Huskies, tying for 10th place while competing as an individual. Raupp also found his season-low round score at the Gopher Invitational, tallying 69 strokes in the first round. 

Finishing as NIU’s fourth golfer, Bruminhent averaged 73.67 strokes per round in the fall. Bruminhent competed in four tournaments total, three individually.

Sophomore Craig Long rounded out the Huskies’ fall lineup, finishing with a scoring average of 74.13. Long’s best finish came at the Purdue Fall Invitational on Sept. 23, tying for sixth place while competing as an individual. 

“He has come a long way, a really long way,” Krammer said. “I gotta say, when I came back in the fall and saw him playing for the first time, I was like ‘wow, this guy (Long) has taken it up like two, three notches.’” 

Ahead of the MAC Championship scheduled for April 27, NIU’s spring schedule features a mix of familiar and unfamiliar courses, including the Kishwaukee Country Club in DeKalb at the Kishwaukee Intercollegiate on April 5. 

The intercollegiate accounts for NIU’s first home tournament since the fall 2021 season in the Rich Harvest Intercollegiate. 

The Huskies kick off for the spring season with an all-day event on Monday at the Lake Las Vegas Intercollegiate. The tournament will run throughout Wednesday and stats will be provided by Scoreboard.