Oct. 8, 2006
GLENCOE, Ill. -- Northwestern's men's golf team finds itself within striking distance after the first 36 holes of the Windon Memorial Classic, 13 shots behind the leaders in a tie for fifth place with Illinois.
A difficult first round resulted in a total of 306, leaving the 'Cats in a tie for eighth, 16 shots behind Michigan State. Northwestern refused to give up at their own tournament, rebounding in the second round to shoot 7-over 291, the lowest second-round score of any team that completed the round.
"I was really proud of the guys for finishing the second round so strongly," Northwestern Head Coach Pat Goss said. "Hopefully it will be enough to give us a chance to win our own tournament."
Northwestern finished its second round just in time, as darkness set in and forced the suspension of play before everyone could finish. Colorado is the current leader at 16-over par, but still has holes left in the second round. Southern Methodist is the clubhouse leader at 22-over, seven shots ahead of the Wildcats.
Freshman Jonathan Bowers (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) is in position to record his third straight top-10 finish to begin his collegiate career. Bowers shot a round of 5-over 76 in the first round, and then jump-started his second round with an eagle at No. 7 to shoot 1-under 70 and finish Sunday in tie for sixth at 4-over 146.
Southern Methodist's Colt Knost leads the Windon, completing 36 holes at 2-under 140 thanks to back-to-back 70's.
Senior David Merkow (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead Union) is right on Bowers' heels, completing 36 holes with a total of 5-over 147 (75-72). Merkow sits in a tie for ninth place after making nine birdies.
Chris Wilson (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) shot rounds of 76 and 75 on Sunday and finds himself in 26th place at 9-over 151 with 18 holes remaining.
Dan Doyle (Rochester, Mich./Stoney Creek) provided a solid effort of 2-over 73 in the second round, finishing just before darkness suspended play. The junior rallied at the end of his round, going 2-under for his final six holes to move up the leaderboard into a tie for 38th place at 11-over 153 (80-73).
Kyle Moore (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Scioto) completed 36 holes before darkness set in and is in 57th place at 17-over 159.
The second round will resume at 7:45 a.m. Monday, and once the second round is completed the third round will begin with a shotgun start at 9:30 a.m.
Live scoring for the completion of the Windon can be found at Windon Memorial Classic.