Liam White
The Northern Illinois University men’s golf team got their final tournament of the fall under way on Monday, playing the first two rounds at the Pinetree Intercollegiate at Pinetree Country Club.
Junior Liam White (Waukegan, Ill./Carmel Catholic/Indian Hills CC) led the way for the Huskies with a 36-hole total of 158, tied for 56th after the opening two rounds.
Akron leads the team standings through two rounds with a 36-hole total of 576; Ryan Harris of the Zips holds the individual lead at eight-under par after posting rounds of 65 and 71.
“We got off to a great start, after six holes we were under par as a team, but we finished the first round with one of our worst scores of the fall,” said NIU head coach Tom Porten. “We saw how fleeting the game can be, we made some mistakes and the round got away from us. Our young guys are learning some very difficult lessons on very good golf courses. Good tournaments and good setups expose poor decisions and that happened to us today.
“On the plus side, these greens are very fast and very sloped. They have a lot of grain which our guys are not used to seeing, but we putted the ball much better than we did two weeks ago at Erin Hills.”
Following an 83 in the first round, White was steady to begin his second 18, carding nine-straight pars to open the afternoon round before finishing the second 18 with a three-over 75.
“Liam has been battling a little wrist injury; he came back in the afternoon and played much better,” said Porten. “He missed the ball in the right spots and his short game kept him going.”
Freshman Caulen Coe (Gulf Stream, Fla./University of Nebraska Independent School) posted the best first round for NIU, carding a 79, which included a two-under 34 on the back nine with eight pars and an eagle on the par-5, 513-yard 11th hole.
The Huskies were able to use just four scores in the morning round after senior Shawn Foley (Pewaukee, Wis./Waukesha North) was disqualified after misplaying a provisional.
NIU is paired with Ball State and Texas-Pan American in today’s final round.
For more information on NIU men’s golf and Huskie athletics, visit www.niuhuskies.com.
