NIU’s Midwestern Invitational may have what it takes to build a tradition with its strong field Friday and Saturday in the inaugural 54-hole golf tournament.

In terms of team competition, the Midwest’s finest squads are in abundance starting with meet favorite Ohio State. There are so many of the Midwest’s best individual golfers that a favorite is next to impossible to determine.

Tee off times are set for 7:30 a.m. both days at the Kishwaukee Country Club’s par-70, 6,326-yard course. Thirty-six holes are scheduled to be played Friday with the final 18 set for Saturday.

The national contending Buckeyes top the 14-school field. Ohio State is no stranger to being in the favorite’s role. The Buckeyes are also familiar with success on the Kishwaukee course, winning the Mid-American Invitational tournaments hosted by NIU during the three previous years.

“We’re fortunate enough to be at the stage where we get placed in that role a lot,” OSU Coach Jim Brown said. “We obviously like the Kishwaukee course, and I guess we feel as if we’re at least defending course champions.”

“Ohio State’s an obvious favorite, but there are a lot of other good teams, and competition will be strong,” said NIU Coach Jack Pheanis, who cited Illinois, Ball State, Northwestern, Indiana and Kansas as teams to make a run at Ohio State.

“Realistically, if we finish in the middle of this pack, that would be a good tournament for us,” Pheanis said. “We’ve got a lot of young players in terms of experience. Some are very talented, but they’ve been inconsistent and we don’t have the barnburner individual to shoot par and under to make us a team contender.”

The Buckeyes may have disappointed Brown somewhat with an eighth-place finish in last week’s Chris Schenkel Invitational, but OSU won the Marshall Invitational and Kepler Intercollegiate prior to that thanks to some impressive individual showings.

obert Huxtable boasts Ohio State’s top average per 18-hole round at 72.6 and was the Marshall meet medalist ahead of teammate Craigen Pappas, who sports a 73.3 average. At the Kepler, Huxtable was the runner-up individually while teammates Dennis Harrington (72.9 average) and Ted Tryba (73.8 average) tied for third.

The veteran coaches agree on many of the same names in the individual competition along with the Buckeyes. Defending Big Ten medalist Steve Stricker of Illinois is quickly mentioned along with three-time Purdue MVP Lenny Hartlage, Remi Bouchard and Dave Olsen from Indiana, Northwestern’s Dominique Boulet and Fran Quinn, plus Kansas’ Brian McGreevey or Nebraska’s John Dinnebier.

Brown does not rule out any of the NIU golfers based on home course familiarity. Among the Huskies’ unheralded unit is lone senior Tim Giger, who began the week with the squad’s best average at 77.2. Freshman Chad Behrends has been the hottest NIU clubman in recent meets and sports a 78.0 average while junior Charlie Sloan was right behind at 78.1, as was sophomore Derrick Strand at 78.4