Louisville’s Persimmon Ridge Golf Club proved to be a tough course Monday, and consequently, the scores were high after the first round of the 36-hole Persimmon Ridge Intercollegiate.

Down in the heart of the bluegrass state, NIU’s men’s golf team finished with a whopping 331 for the opening 18 holes, which leaves the Huskies in a tie for 15th with Purdue heading into today’s final round of play.

The Intercollegiate was originally scheduled for 54 holes (27 each day) but due to frost and winter-like temperatures, the tourney was reduced to 18 holes each round.

Kent State holds first-place honors in the 18-team tournament with a 300, one stroke ahead of North Carolina and three in front of Michigan State.

Individually, there is a three-way tie atop the leaderboard. Morehead State’s Mike Brumfield, Kent State’s Kevin Kraft and Miami of Ohio’s Adam Weinstein all fired 1-over-par 73s on the 6,950-yard course. Nine others are within two shots of the lead.

NIU was led by Jason Samuelian, who shot a 7-over 79 and sits in a tie for 29th with nine others.

Other Huskies making the 18-hole tour were Mark Voeller (82), Derek Schoonhoven (84), Niclas Jinglov (86) and John Larson (86).