April 5, 2007
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Only three days after returning home from Arizona, Northwestern's men's golf team hits the road again for more tournament action, this time staying in the Midwest for this weekend's Boilermaker Invitational. The tournament is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, April 7-8, in West Lafayette, Ind.
The 'Cats, who are ranked 37th in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Index, completed play at the National Invitational Tournament in Tucson, Ariz., on Tuesday. Led by Chris Wilson's (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) second straight top-20 finish, the Wildcats placed 11th in a field that included 12 top-50 squads.
After going up against the best teams from across the country in their first three events of the spring, the Boilermaker Invitational will have a Midwest feel for the Wildcats. Besides the 'Cats, seven other Big Ten teams are in the 15-team field: No. 33 Wisconsin, No. 44 Michigan State, No. 49 and host Purdue, No. 54 Indiana, No. 75 Ohio State, No, 77 Illinois and No. 83 Michigan. No. 57 Notre Dame and Toledo are also in the field, as two-thirds of the field is comprised of Midwest teams.
No. 28 Auburn, No. 31 Baylor, No. 32 Washington, No. 93 Oklahoma and Missouri round out the 15-team field.
This year's edition of the Boilermaker Invitational is being played on the Kampen Course of the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex, site of the 2008 NCAA National Championships. The par-72 layout has been lengthened to 7,382 yards since the Wildcats placed sixth in last year's Boilermaker Invitational on the same course.
Senior David Merkow (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead Union) paced the 'Cats at last year's Boilermaker Invitational, earning a ninth-place finish with a 54-hole total of 6-over 222.
The field will play the first 36 holes of the 54-hole tournament on Saturday, beginning with a shotgun start at 8 a.m. CT. The final 18 holes will be played Sunday with the first groups teeing off at 7 a.m. CT.