NIU men’s golf was in action over the weekend at the Irish Creek Collegiate, down in Kannapolis, N.C.

The Huskies looked to continue their success of four straight events of placing of fourth or better, which dates back to them taking third place in the MAC Match Play. NIU finished in 10th place with a three-day team total of 877. Fellow MAC team Kent State won the Irish Creek Collegiate with a total of 825 (-27), 14 strokes better than second-place No. 17 Duke.

At the end of round one Saturday, the Huskies were tied for third. The second round was a different story for the team; they ended the round jumping back seven spots to the 10th spot and would stay there for the rest of the tournament.

NIU coach Tom Porten said the Huskies were in a good mental state due to the past four tournaments and that they were eager for the tournament.

“I thought we were in a great state of mind because of our success over our last four tournaments,” Porten said. “We were really excited because it is a really good event at a really good golf course and it delivered it.”

Round one was lead by junior Kurtis Luedtke and freshman Thomas Dunne. Luedtke shot a four under 67, which included six birdies and a double bogey. Dunne shot a two under 69, which included five birdies and three bogeys. Luedtke was the highest-finishing individual for NIU, tying for 26th with a 54-hole total of 217.

Luedtke said it seemed like everything was in his favor out there and he had good chances all throughout the first round.

“It seemed liked everything out there went my way in round one,” Luedtke said. “I had good chances almost each hole. I made a 30 footer during my round and the game felt easy for me.”

In the second and third round, the Huskies were lead by junior Griffin Bauman, who shot a two over 73 both rounds.

Porten said the Huskies had some minor miscues in the second round which caused them to slip toward the back of the field and it showed up again in the third round.

“The main difference from this tournament from the others I can sum it up in one word: Putting,” Porten said. “We were averaging almost three more putts per round than in the past tournaments, which made the difference this week.”