DeKalb | Men’s golf will have to go the rest of their season without top golfer Nick Huggins.

Huggins, a junior, has been playing with a torn labrum muscle in his left shoulder for weeks, but can no longer do so. Surgery for the repair is scheduled for Oct. 30. The recovery will take at least six months.

“It is a big loss,” said head coach Tom Porten. “He is our best player right now; he is a good role model and a good leader for the program both on and off the course. We are going to miss Nick the rest of the season.”

The loss could not have happened at a worse time as NIU has been playing its best golf of the season. At last week’s Badger Invitational the Huskies totaled a season-low 923. The 302 and 305 the Huskies posted respectively during the 54-hole tournament were the two round lows.

Huggins was NIU’s top finisher, carding a (73-77-76=226).

The junior has had injury problems before and had to sit out the spring season. Huggins was sidelined after just one tournament due to a small stress factor in his back. The stress factor resulted in him getting a full body cast from February to May.

Huggins has the option of applying for a medical redshirt, which will give him another year of eligibility.

“I think I will be able to get a redshirt,” Huggins said. “Hopefully I can get another year of eligibility, which would be nice.”

Even with the injury taking him out of tournaments, Huggins is still looking at the team first.

“Right now it sucks. I want to play,” Huggins said. “But I’m going to try and help them out in any way I can.”

Huggins is trying to stay positive and looks forward to coming back once he recovers from surgery.

“I have to get it fixed; I have to get healthy,” Huggins said. “[It’s] tough to play when you are hurting. [I] gotta get it fixed, get healthy, and then we will get back after it.”