The men’s golf team enters the new season with basically a whole new roster. The team lost six players from last season due to graduation.

Head coach Tom Porten, entering into his fifth season, will have four freshmen to bring into his system this year: Jake Curwin, Pierrick Fillon, Braden Klaisle and Caulen Coe. With most of his experienced golfers gone, Porten knows this is the start of a rebuilding process, and he feels his guys are ready.

“This year we are going to have to grow together while learning the ups and downs of college golf,” Porten said. “I really feel good that this particular group is ready for the challenge and prepared to help the program while continuing to help it grow.”

Because NIU has a considerable amount of youth on the team, Porten will look to his two returners, senior Shawn Foley and junior Nick Huggins, to step into a leadership role this season. Huggins likes how his teammates have been looking.

“I like Liam White, who is also new to the program, transferring in from [Indian Hills Community College],” Huggins said. “He was ranked one of the top players in the nation at IHCC. He has already made an impression as someone who can bomb the ball.”

The freshmen golfers are looking pretty impressive as well, said Huggins.

“Pierrick beginning his first year at Northern came over from France,” Huggins said. “He is a golfer who has been hitting many birdies in practice, and someone who has been recognized for his good short game.

“Jake attended high school in Minnesota. He is a lefty with a unique swing. Braden is a young kid who has been hitting well on the fairways. Caulen is also someone who can bomb the ball he hits it so far.”

Foley also weighed in with how much upside this new group has.

“They look good. They all have a lot of potential,” Foley said. “They all know what they have to work on after our qualifying rounds over the weekend, and have all fall season to kind of work on those things and get better.”

NIU has been practicing at its home course, Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, during the preseason, leading up to what will be the first meet of the season Friday. This will mark the third consecutive year the team will call Rich Harvest Farms its home course.

“We are really fortunate to have the Rich family support us during the off season and our event coming up this weekend,” Porten said. “None of this would be possible without their love and support of NIU and our golf program.”

Huggins, who worked at Rich Harvest Farms over the summer, said the Rich family is “great” to the program.

“The family makes time to come talk to us during practice, and have given us some really good pep talks. We have dinners out there always [and they supply] water to us when we are thirsty,” Huggins said. “They are really awesome and it is great to able to be a part of such a great facility.”

NIU is eager to begin the new year, and hoping to finish higher than its MAC counterparts over the weekend.

“We are going to be competitive,” Porten said. “Obviously the goal at the end of the season is to win a conference championship, but a good goal for this tournament would be to beat the two teams that are in our conference [Ball State, Miami of Ohio], and we want to be competitive with the two teams from the Big Ten [Indiana and Ohio State].”