Oct. 13, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. -- The month of October has been a good one for Northwestern's men's golf team, and the good news is the Wildcats get to play two more events in the coming weeks.
After finishing first in the Big Ten/Pac-10 Challenge and second at the Coca-Cola Duke Classic, the hot 'Cats head to Jonesborough, Tenn., for the Eighth Annual Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate at the Ridges this Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 15 and 16.
The 15-team field includes 11 teams that are presently ranked in the Golfweek/Sagarin top 50, which includes the 15th-ranked Wildcats. Tennessee (No. 3) and Wake Forest (No. 11) are the only teams in the tournament ranked higher than Northwestern. Other entrants include: Kent State (24), LSU (25), East Tennessee State (27), Auburn (32), Florida State (34), North Carolina (35), Virginia (47), Alabama (50), TCU (52), South Carolina (78), Virginia Tech (83) and Oklahoma.
The Wildcats have mixed some tremendous balance to go with some outstanding rounds this fall. Northwestern will once again need to display that kind of effort to challenge for this weekend's title.
David Merkow (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead Union) is the Wildcats' leader in stroke average with a 71.56 mark after nine rounds.
The teams will play 36 holes Saturday and 18 Sunday. Northwestern is competing in this event for a second time in school history. The Wildcats placed fourth in 2000 with Tom Johnson leading NU with a third-place finish.
Live scoring can be found at Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate at the Ridges.