Golf: ‘Cats trending up as men’s team wins home event

Men’s Golf

During the final weekend of September, Northwestern hosted the Windon Memorial Classic championship at Evanston Golf Club. The Wildcats entered the final round 12 strokes behind the leaders. Aggressive play and knowledge of the local course helped the ‘Cats surge up the leaderboard early in the final round. The hometown Wildcats finished the day with a 10-under 270, tied for the lowest round in Windon Memorial history. Once all the other schools finished on the 18th green, NU was the only team to finish the competition under par at -2. It was the sixth time Northwestern was crowned champion of the Windon Memorial, and its first team win since the 2017 tournament.

The following weekend, the ‘Cats carried their momentum to Milwaukee Country Club and placed second in the Marquette Intercollegiate. 2022 Big Ten Champion David Nyfjall posted back-to-back 69s and finished runner-up.

At the Quail Valley Collegiate in Vero Beach, Florida in early October, more Wildcats impressed on the course. As a team, Northwestern finished fifth and just five strokes behind champion University of North Florida. However, NU’s final round (-19, 269) was tied for the team’s second-lowest round in school history. Senior James Imai’s final-round 64 matched the fourth-lowest individual round in program history. As a team, Northwestern led the field in birdies, draining 76 over 54 holes.

John Driscoll III also converted a big par save on the 10th hole at Quail Valley after hitting a sweet recovery shot from the notorious Florida marsh:

Next up for the men is the Cal Poly Invitational at The Preserve Golf Club in California at the end of the month, marking an end to their fall slate.

Women’s Golf

Let’s just say the Wildcats’ home event went the other way for the women’s team. Northwestern hosted the Windy City Collegiate Classic at Exmoor Country Club in Highland Park, Illinois in the beginning of October. The ‘Cats posted a whopping 42 over-par and finished 13th out of 15th for the weekend. The women of USC, ranked 14th in the nation, won the event at just three over-par, signaling pretty tough course conditions at Exmoor.

The following weekend, Northwestern competed in the Illini Women’s Invitational at Medinah Country Club, host of the 2012 Ryder Cup and multiple major championships. There, the ‘Cats played much better golf, posting a 23 under-par as a team over 54 holes. The ‘Cats were the only team to play the Par 3s under par, with an average score of 2.97. Overall, NU played very well, with graduate student Kelly Sim finishing the tournament at 7-under and tied for 13th individually.

This coming weekend, Northwestern will travel west to compete in the Stanford Invitational to wrap up the fall portion of its schedule.