After a performance that landed them in 17th out of 19th place, the men’s golf team is looking to rebound this weekend in Boca Raton, Fla., at the FAU Spring Break Invitational.

The competition this weekend will be stiff. The tournament features 16 teams and 92 golfers. Some teams include host Florida Atlantic University, one of the top schools in the nation in golf in Central Florida, and Florida Golf Coast University.

With the amount of competition at this weekend’s tournament, coach Tom Porten realizes the team must rebound from its last performance.

“We have to put a lot better than we did,” Porten said. “We had 22 three putts last tournament, and when you put like that you’re going to struggle.”

Porten is also looking for a rebound performance from senior Griffin Bauman.

“Historically Griffin Bauman, with the exception of his struggles last week, has been pretty good in the state of Florida,” Porten said. “He played well at this golf course this year.”

After finishing tied for 85th and shooting 23 over par in the last tournament it is important for Bauman to get back on track. Bauman has been one of the Huskies’ best players this season. When the senior finishes in the top 10 individually, the Huskies have had their two top finishes of the season as a team.

The Huskies will look for an overall improvement from the entire team. If NIU can execute Porten’s gameplan, it should finish better than it did at its last tournament.

“The keys are to drive the ball into the fairway as often as possible,” Porten said. “We need to create as many opportunities to make birdies by hitting the golf ball into the middle of the green, and to be effective with our putter.”

The good news for NIU is it has finished well at this course in the past. Last year, the Huskies finished this tournament in third place, and Bauman finished 11th. In addition, three out of NIU’s five players have played on this course before.

If NIU can execute its gameplan on a familiar golf coarse, it has the opportunity to finish in the top 10 this weekend.