Men’s golf got the best ninth-place finish it could hope for thanks to strong second-round performances Monday.

The Huskies (314, 291, 299, 904) finished the Erin Hills Intercollegiate in Erin, Wis., in ninth place Tuesday. They were just one stroke behind the Kentucky Wildcats (316, 298, 289, 903). The UCLA Bruins (294, 291, 274, 859) finished in first behind a tournament-best third-round score.

Head coach Tom Porten said the tournament showed how competitive the Huskies can be.

“The first round was a little below average for us,” Porten said. “Erin Hills, which is going to be hosting the 2017 U.S. Open, is a very demanding course. You saw it from a lot of teams. Monday was an example of the promise of what this program could be. You started to see how when the team is playing up to its capabilities how high the ceiling is.”

Junior Jordan Wetsch (75, 71, 77, 223), who finished tied for 21st, led the Huskies throughout the weekend. After the second round, Wetsch was three strokes behind SMU’s Bryson Dechambeau (72, 71, 69, 212), the individual champion.

Westch was red-hot to start the first round Sunday. Through the first seven holes, he was two under par before a double bogey on the 17th hole sent him into a funk he was unable to shake until 15 holes in. He was a model of consistency in the second round, playing the entire round without going over par.

In the second round, NIU tied UCLA for the second-best round score. The 23-stroke difference between NIU’s first and second round score was the biggest score differential since the 2009 Spartan Classic.

Sophomore Raphael Denais (79, 72, 75, 226) put together strong second and third rounds after struggling in the first round Friday. Sunday, it took him 10 strokes to get through the par-5 14th hole after a shot landed in the tall grass. The 14th hole gave Denais trouble all weekend, but he got through it two more times with bogies.

“The great thing about Raphael [Denais] is he’s very positive,” Porten said. “He played very well. It speaks to his maturity that he didn’t let that affect him.”

Junior Liam White (83, 83, 73, 239) put up the Huskies’ worst scores in the first two rounds before scoring a team-leading 73 in the third round. Freshman Patrick Murphy (79, 74, 76, 229) and sophomore Joo-Young Lee (81, 74, 75, 230) had solid finishes after poor first rounds.

NIU wasn’t able to sustain its momentum heading into the third round. Porten said the Huskies’ putters went cold.

“We didn’t putt the ball as well” Tuesday, Porten said. “Monday, we made 17 birdies, and [Tuesday] we made eight birdies. We didn’t make enough putts to hold up our scores, but I’m very pleased. All five of our players held around par for most of the day. … Overall, we keep improving. There’s a bright future.”

With only one more tournament left in the fall season, Porten said he likes the direction the team’s headed in and said this weekend could be a sign of good things to come.

“They hit a lot of great shots,” Porten said. “The iron play was good. The ball striking stats [show] that we hit the ball well all day. On Monday, we just made our putts. They did a lot of things right, which is great to see. They worked hard for this and all that work is showing. … Everything was clicking.”