May 25, 2001
Evanston, Ill. - The 2000-01 Northwestern men's golf season closed the chapter on one era of Wildcat golf, but also showed signs that the coming years should be no less exciting. With a starting lineup that featured two freshmen and a sophomore, the `Cats are well stocked for a few more seasons.
Head coach Pat Goss led his Wildcats to a Top 15 finish in every tournament this season, including three team titles. The `Cats' first win came at the Prestige in Palm Desert, Calif., Nov. 6-7. NU carded rounds of 291-281-283=855 to finish a stroke ahead of Pepperdine. It would not be until late April that the `Cats would bring home another team title. This time it was in East Lansing, Mich., at the Fossum Intercollegiate. Led by three `Cats in the Top 10, NU won by 10 strokes over a highly concentrated Big Ten field.
The Fossum Intercollegiate was a good tune-up for the following weekend's Big Ten Championships. NU dominated the conference tournament, winning its third straight championship by 13 strokes over Purdue. NU's four-round total of 1,132 was the second lowest total in Big Ten Tournament history -- the `Cats set the record in 1999 with a score of 1,131. Four `Cats landed in the Top 10 this year, including senior Luke Donald (High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England/Royal Grammar School) who won medalist honors for the second straight year.
NU not only won all the conference titles on the course, they also swept the individual awards. For the third consecutive year, Donald was named the Big Ten Golfer of the Year and was given the Les Bolstad award for lowest stroke average. Donald finishes his career as a Wildcat holding all but one record -- Jess Daly has the lowest round at 62. Donald's 70.76 season average is third all-time, just behind his sophomore and junior averages. It is no surprise that Donald's 70.95 career average is also an NU best. In front of a national television audience, he also set the school's 54-hole tournament record with a 202 at the U.S. Collegiate Championships. Donald won a total of 13 tournaments while a NU, more than twice the number of any other golfer in NU men's golf history. That includes the 1999 NCAA title.
Even though Donald's presence will be sorely missed next season, the sting has been lessened by a freshman from Fair Oaks, Calif., who was named NU's first Big Ten Freshman of the Year since Matt Seppanen earned the honor in 1995. Tom Johnson (Fair Oaks Calif./Del Campo) came out of the blocks firing this fall, taking third in his first collegiate tournament. He completed his freshman campaign with five Top 10 finishes and was second on the squad with a 72.62 stroke average.
Junior Chris Thayer (Richmond, Va./Godwin) was named to the All-Big Ten team and will be the lone senior on the squad next season. Thayer played in all 13 tournaments, shooting a career-low 64 in the first round of the Fossum Intercollegiate.
Coach Goss rounded out the Big Ten Wildcat awards as he was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year for the third straight year and fourth time in his five-year tenure as NU's head coach. Goss has led the `Cats to 15 tournament titles and has coached six All-Americans.
Unfortunately, the `Cats were unable to climb back from a 16-over first round at the NCAA Central Regional to advance to the championship round, making it the first time in five seasons they did not earn a berth to the NCAA Championships. This was an especially tough way for Donald to end his career, having been the national champion only two seasons earlier.
Even though they may have lost the most decorated golfer in NU history, the `Cats should still be frontrunners next season as they gun for their fourth consecutive Big Ten crown and try to make a return to the NCAA Championships.