Northwestern University Athletics
1999 Fall Season in Review
11/22/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Nov. 22, 1999
The 1999-2000 Northwestern men?s golf team didn?t lose any momentum from its third-place finish at the NCAA tournament last June.
The Wildcats started off the fall season at the Ping/Golfweek Preview in Opelika, Ala. and won the team title by eight strokes over second-place Clemson. Using that start, NU played four tournaments in the fall and never finished below third place. The Wildcats finished second at the Windon Memorial and they tied for third at the Iron Duke Classic and at The Nelson.
As a team, NU had a stroke average of 73.4 playing 55 rounds. The ?Cats also reached the pinnacle of the college golf rankings as they were ranked No. 1 by Golfweek/Sagarin on two separate occasions during the fall. Northwestern is currently ranked No. 2 in the nation.
The 1999-2000 version of Wildcat golf returns NCAA champion Luke Donald, who took the golf world by storm last year winning five of the 14 events in which he competed. Donald, ranked No. 1 in the nation, started this season where he left off last year by winning the Ping Preview ? which included a field of the nation?s best ? and following that up with a victory at the Windon Memorial. Donald leads the team in stroke average with 70.4, while Jess Daley right on his heels with 71.8.
Daley played his best golf of his career when he finished 9-under par at The Nelson held in Stanford, Calif. He shot rounds of 68-70-66 for a total of 204 finishing one stroke behind Martin Maritz from Tulsa. It was the second tournament of the year Daley was the runner-up. He finished at 7-under par, one stroke behind Donald at the Ping Preview.
Seniors David Shaffer and Danny Riskam and freshman Scott Harrington all had solid tournaments for the Wildcats this fall. Harrington, fresh out of high school, shot a 70 in his first round as a collegiate golfer and finished in a tie for 26th with Shaffer. He played in three tournaments, finishing the fall with a 75.1 stroke average. Riskam competed in two tournaments with his best finish coming at the Iron Duke Classic where he finished ninth.
Senior Josh Habig was the other Wildcat to compete this fall. He played in all four events, having his best finish of 17th at the Windon Memorial Classic.
