As hosts of the 2012 MAC Championships at Rich Harvest Farms, NIU men’s golf finished in seventh place.

NIU coach Tom Porten said he is upset with a seventh place finish, especially since they played on their home course and had high hopes heading into the MAC Championship.

“Finishing seventh is always disappointing,” Porten said. “Especially if you add that you are on your home course. We had such high expectations heading into the Conference Championship, but we accept the result and we will have a lot to work on during the offseason.”

At the end of day one, the Huskies were tied with Ball State for sixth-place after the first two rounds. Freshman Thomas Dunne led the way for the Huskies, sitting in a tie for ninth after the opening 36 holes.

NIU shot rounds of 301 and 306 and sat two strokes behind Akron for fifth place.

The Golden Flashes found their way around the course and shot 12-under-par.

In day two, the Huskies slipped back one spot to number seven while Dunne would move up to the eighth spot on the individual leader board. Dunne carded three birdies on his Saturday round.

NIU posted a team score of 298 on Saturday. The round was the Huskies best of the tournament.

Sundays round was washed out due to rain delay and darkness approaching. The bad weather was the only thing that could slow down the 18th ranked Kent State men’s golf team at the MAC Championship this weekend as they claimed their fourth straight championship.

The lone bright spot for the Huskies was Dunne; he was the highest-placing Huskie and finished in a tie for eighth with a 54-hole total of 220.

Dunne said he was happy to finish in the top ten but was upset because he feels like the Huskies, as a team, could have done better than seventh since they come to place near the top every weekend.

“I am very pleased with finishing in the top ten, knowing that I didn’t hit the ball that well,” Dunne said. “As a team, we came there to win. We know that Kent State is the team to beat since they are a top 20 program in the country, but our first day put us in a hole that we couldn’t get out of.”

Porten said he was gracious for the Rich family and the staff of the MAC and NIU who came out over the weekend.