Competing at the Quail Valley Invitational in Vero Beach, Florida, NIU men’s golf shot the second-lowest single round score in program history to take an 11th place finish, tied with the University of Maryland, on Monday.
The Huiskies shot a 854, which was good for 10-under par, fueled by a 13-under-par team performance in the third round. In a field of 16 teams, the Huskies sat in 16th place after the second round, before jumping to 11th on the final day.
“It was our most complete tournament that we played this fall as a team,” said NIU men’s golf head coach John Carlson. “This is the strongest field we’ve faced by far, with perennial NCAA regional contenders. Today we had the lowest round of the day, so that just shows how much our youth has grown already this fall, just in five tournaments.”
Sophomore Conner McCall led the pack, shooting a 207 to end tied for 8th place. Improving as the competition went on, McCall shot a career-best 68, 4-under par, to round out a 9-under-par performance.
“He has a great ball-directing week,” Carlson said of McCall. “Conner drove it well and he capitalized at times to keep momentum going. Five birdies in a row today, it’s the most he’s made in his collegiate career in a row. I think that really speaks volume to the talent level that we have on this team.”
Junior Craig Long and sophomore Patrick Raupp ended tied for 36th place, each shooting a 215.
After shooting 2-under par in the first round, Long struggled with a 3-over par, 75 strokes, in the second round. A 70-stroke final round powered a 13-place jump, putting Long in 36th to finish the competition.
Raupp also struggled in the second frame, shooting a 75, before shooting the Huskies’ lowest score of the tournament with a 67, good for 5-under par.
“Patrick was actually under the weather this week, but he went out and played hard for the team and got some momentum going out there,” Carlson said. “He’s as talented of a player that we’ve had in NIU golf, and today just showed a glimpse into what the future of Patrick Raupp could be in college.”
The fourth Huskie to finish was freshman Corentin Guilloux, who ended in 61st place with a score of 219. Guilloux was above par in each of the first two rounds, before ending the tournament with a 70, 2-under par.
Coming in 79th, freshman Devin Swoyer, the reigning Mid-American Conference Golfer of the Week, was the lowest-placed Huskie for the tournament, with a 225. A 5-over par first round improved to 74 strokes, 2-over par, for the final two frames.
This was the final tournament of NIU’s fall season, giving the Huskies a break until they return to action on Feb. 23 at the Lake Las Vegas Invitational.
“The next few weeks are really a reset,” Carlson said of the break between the fall and spring seasons. “We have so much data from this fall that we can go back to. We need to pitch the ball better and we need to continue to place an emphasis on par 4 scoring. We did a great job today, but we need to drive the ball consistently in every place we go, in every weather condition to make sure that our par 4 scoring is as good as it can be.”
