April 14, 2012
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Northwestern is in sixth position following the opening 36 holes Saturday of the 15-team Kepler Intercollegiate hosted by Ohio State, fighting the notoriously difficult Scarlet Course as well as a relentless rain that battered the field for most of the day.
"Slow start for the team today, but that is easy to do at the Scarlet Course," head coach Pat Goss tweeted. "With tough hole locations and the course, there won't be a lot of birdies to tweet (about). Have to stay patient and keep fighting."
How tough did the Scarlet Course play Saturday? The morning round, which featured on and off rain, saw competitors average a score of 77.48. When the drenching, consistent rains poured down in the afternoon, the student-athletes combined for a 78.83 stroke average on the par-71 course.
Northwestern carded a 36-hole team score of 44-over 612 (305-307) Saturday, putting the Wildcats one shot up on seventh-place Toledo, two shots in front of eighth-place Bowling Green and three shots on top of ninth-place Eastern Michigan. NU is one stroke behind sixth-place Xavier while No. 36 Indiana and host Ohio State lead the tournament at 31-over par, 13 shots ahead of the Wildcats.
Showcasing again just how tough the Scarlet Course played Saturday, senior Eric Chun (Ansung City, South Korea/International Christian School) is in the top 10 individually at 8-over 150 after opening with a 2-over 73 and carding an afternoon 6-over 77. Chun made his first birdie of the tournament at the 586-yard par-5 fourth hole when he hit a high cut 4-iron from 220 yards to reach the green before two-putting for the birdie. A stretch of four bogeys in seven holes followed before he made six pars and a birdie at No. 15 on the way in for his opening 73.
In the afternoon round, Chun started with back-to-back bogeys on holes No. 1 and 2 before again making birdie at the fourth. Four back nine bogeys would eventually lead to his second round 77 and an eighth-place standing just three strokes shy of the individual leader entering the final round.
Sophomore Jack Perry (Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara) showed great resolve Saturday, opening with a 9-over 80 before bouncing back to card a 3-over 74 in the second round. Perry did not make a single birdie in the morning, instead finding himself with seven bogeys and one double. In the afternoon, however, Perry answered two bogeys on the front side with a birdie at the 202-yard par-3 eighth to turn at 1-over 37. He then made seven pars against two bogeys on the back side for his 74.
After standing 62nd individually following the first round, Perry will enter Sunday's final round in 36th position at 12-over 154.
Junior Nick Losole (Scottsdale, Ariz./Scottsdale Notre Dame) began his day on the third hole with a bogey, but did get a stroke back with a draw 6-iron tee shot on the 187-yard par-3 eighth hole before holing his 18-foot birdie putt. Losole also would birdie the 473-yard par-4 14th hole but six bogeys on his card left him with an opening 4-over 75.
With the rain drenching the course, Losole's second round score followed the same trend as many of his competitors. A double bogey at No. 15 put him at 6-over through 13 holes before back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 17 and 18 got him to 8-over par, where he stayed for an 8-over 79 and a 36-hole total of 12-over 154, good for 36th position.
Senior Sam Chien (San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel) is in 44th place at 14-over 156. In the first round, Chien made bogey on three of his first four holes before stabilizing for seven-straight pars. A stretch of four-consecutive bogeys on holes No. 13, 14, 15 and 16 followed, however, to get Chien to 7-over on the round. He would make birdie on his final hole of the day, the 435-yard par-4 first, to turn in an opening 6-over 77.
Chien was unable to make any birdies in his second round, and also found trouble to the tune of two double bogeys, en route to an 8-over 79.
Freshman Matthew Negri (El Cajon, Calif./Grossmont), who earned his way into the starting lineup this week due in part to his work as an individual at several recent tournaments, struggled to an opening 11-over 82 that featured four double bogeys. He fared much better in the afternoon weather, though he did see his score balloon to 6-over through eight holes before whittling that back down to 4-over par aided by birdies at Nos. 13, 16 and 1. A double bogey at the second, though, led to a 6-over 77 and a 36-hole score of 17-over 159 to place him 55th in the field.
The Kepler Intercollegiate concludes tomorrow, Sunday, April 15, with the final round beginning with tee times at 7:30 a.m. CT.
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