Share Tweet Share Email

Men’s golf returns to action at Rio Pinar invite

March 18, 2012
Bryce Emory

Bryce Emory

The Northern Illinois men’s golf team will return to the links for the first time in a month when it competes at the UCF Rio Pinar Invitational in Orlando, Fla.

The 54-hole tournament will begin with a pair of rounds Monday, March 19, and conclude with the final round on Tuesday, March 20.

With spring break in session this past week, the Huskies have spent an extended period of time in Florida preparing to return to action.

“We are anxious to get the tournament started tomorrow morning,” said NIU head coach Tom Porten.

“We will be playing with Houston Baptist and Cleveland State and we look forward to a good start tomorrow. We have been fortunate to have very good weather to prepare; we have gotten a good week’s worth of range time and course time (in Florida), so we feel like we are ready to go.”

The Rio Pinar Invitational takes place at the Rio Pinar Country Club, a 7,000-yard, par 72 course opened in 1957 that hosted the PGA Tour’s Citrus Open for 13 years.

NIU is coming off of a third-place finish at the Mid-American Conference Match Play. Redshirt junior Griffin Bauman (Crystal Lake, Ill./Central) led the Huskies at the Match Play with a perfect 3-0 record.

The Huskies are joined by 14 other schools in the field at the Rio Pinar Invitational, including three ranked programs led by 18th-ranked host Central Florida, the Golden Knights are also the defending tournament champions. Other ranked teams in the field include No. 37 Wichita State and No. 66 Campbell.

“To play in an event that features a top-20 team, as well as another top-40 team, the goal is to see if we can push them. I think that we are ready to play good golf tomorrow, we are looking to get off to a fast start, stick to our game plan and execute, and if we do that we can be competitive with anybody.”

For more information on NIU men’s golf and Huskie athletics, visit www.niuhuskies.com.