Playing near his hometown of Scottsdale, Ariz., Nick Losole earned his third-collegiate top-20 finish.Playing near his hometown of Scottsdale, Ariz., Nick Losole earned his third-collegiate top-20 finish.

Pair of Wildcats Earn Top-20 Finishes at ASU Thunderbird Invitational

April 10, 2011

ASU Thunderbird Final Results (PDF Format) Get Acrobat Reader

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Led by a pair of top-20 individual finishes, Northwestern remained in ninth place following the final round Sunday of the ASU Thunderbird Invitational at Karsten Golf Course.

After carding its first under-par round as a team this season in Saturday's second 18 holes, Northwestern fired a 4-over 288 on Sunday to finish at 17-over 869 (298-283-288). NU finished two strokes in front of a 10th-pace tie between Colorado State and UC Irvine and four shots in back of eighth-place No. 40 Pepperdine.

Senior David Lipsky (La Canada, Calif./La Canada) was 1-over after nine holes Sunday following eight pars and a bogey on No. 3. He got down to red numbers after back-nine birdies at Nos. 10 and 14, but bogeys at the lengthy par-3 16th and -- for the third-straight round -- at No. 18 left Lipsky at 1-over 72 for the day and 15th in the field at 1-over 214 (72-70-72) for the tournament. The result is Lipsky's fifth top-20 finish of the year.

Sophomore Nick Losole (Scottsdale, Ariz./Scottsdale Notre Dame) paired a couple of birdies with a bogey on his front nine Sunday to card a 1-under 33 going out. A double bogey at No. 10 shot him into black numbers, but he recovered with back-to-back birdies at Nos. 14 and 15 to finish 1-under 70 on the day and 2-over 215 (73-72-70) for the tournament, good for 16th place. The result is Losole's third-career collegiate top-20 finish, his second of this year and his first since the season-opening Wolf Run Intercollegiate in September.

Freshman Brad Shigezawa (Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou Academy) got out to a quick start with a birdie at No. 3. He gave a stroke back on No. 5 before a great up-and-down to save par on the 209-yard par-3 6th. Shigezawa eventually got to 2-under after a birdie at No. 17, but a double bogey on the 54th hole left him at even-par 71 for the day and 4-over 217 (76-70-71) for the tournament. Shigezawa placed 27th in the field.

Junior Eric Chun (Ansung City, South Korea/International Christian School) had a rough start Sunday, moving to 3-over through five holes after a double bogey on No. 5 en route to a 4-over 38 on the front side. He recovered and was hitting good shots on the back, carding a birdie at No. 10 before just missing birdie putts inside of 10 feet at 13 and 14. He suffered a bogey on the tough 16th to account for a final round 4-over 75, placing him 55th in the field at 10-over 223 (77-71-75).

Junior Sam Chien (San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel) rounded out Northwestern's tournament with a final day 8-over 79, falling victim to a triple bogey on the difficult 219-yard par-3 16th and a double bogey on 18. He ended up 70th with a 19-over 232 (80-73-79).

Competing as an individual after a back injury scratched him from NU's tournament lineup, senior Ravi Patel (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) shot a Sunday 10-over 81 (with an eagle on the 527-yard, par-5 14th) to finish 60th at 17-over 230 (74-75-81).

Northwestern returns to action April 16-17 at the Illini Spring Classic in Urbana, Ill.

••••••

Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook! and subscribe to the NU Sports Express e-newsletter to receive the latest news, schedule updates and video and to interact with NU. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!