In the last two tournaments for NIU men’s golf, it was led by an unexpected player that stepped on the course; sophomore Nick Huggins.

The sophomore had a career outing at the Earl Yestingsmeier Individual Invitational in Bloomington, Ind., where he had his career best, fifth-place finish and career best round of 67, which was eight shots better than his previous best. He would place first for the Huskies at that tournament.

He followed up that performance with another top performance at the Pinetree Intercollegiate where he tied for 23rd place out of 72 competitors..

Huggins said he owes his new found success due to some equipment that he added to his bag recently.

“Coach [Porten] preached to me about switching my putter to a belly putter because of the way I putt,” Huggins said. “I was never a big fan of them but I thought I would try it one tournament and it worked pretty well. Then I finally got one fitted for me and the consistency is a lot better.

“I also got a new driver and three wood and they go a lot farther than my old driver and three wood which was built for me when I was 16. Those club changes I think have been the biggest thing; I’ve been hitting it better and rolling the putter better.”

Coach Tom Porten said he believes the biggest reason for Huggins’ success has to do with him being fearless and confident on the golf course.

“First thing is, I think what has happened with Nick is he is gaining his confidence back again,” Porten said. “He had a tough freshmen year and he spent the summer here on campus taking a couple classes during summer. He worked at Rich Harvest Farms caddying and he kind of matured with it.

“That maturity has helped him when he faces adversary now. He handles things a whole lot better now and doesn’t panic. It has helped his game and made him much more consistent this year than last year.”

Huggins said he is happy with his play as of late and hopes he can continue that in the spring.

“I am finally starting to finish well in tournaments,” Huggins said. “I could still do, obviously, better but I’ve been pretty happy with the past couple of tournaments. I am getting closer and closer each tournament. I want to work on my short game in the winter and get at it in the spring. We are excited for the spring and I think we are going to turn it around a lot in the spring.”

Looking ahead to the Spring, Huggins will have an increased role and responsibility on the team and Porten believes he is ready for that.

“I have very high expectations for Nick in the second half and Nick has high expectations for himself,” Porten said. “I expect him to be in our lineup regularly all through the spring season.”