Northwestern
NCAA Championships
Northwestern Concludes Play at the 2009 NCAA Championships
5/28/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
May 28, 2009
2009 NCAA Championships Final Results (PDF Format) 
TOLEDO, Ohio -- With darkness falling on the Wildcats for the second-straight evening at the NCAA Championships at the Inverness Club, Northwestern was the final team to finish its round before the air horn blew to conclude play with six programs still are on the course. Those teams concluded play Friday morning, pushing the Wildcats up to a 29th place finish.
Northwestern shot a 23-over 307 on the final day after converting to ready golf with its group featuring No. 14 UCLA and No. 31 Oregon over the final segment of the course. As the players hurried to finish play, good scores became tougher to come by. The Wildcats shot a 54-hole total of 57-over 909 (298-304-307), one stroke better than No. 28 Arizona.
Freshman Eric Chun (Ansung City, South Korea/International Christian School) had NU's best total with an 11-over 224 (75-74-75) after shooting a 4-over 75 Thursday, putting him in 79th place in the tournament. Chun played the front nine in even par Thursday before bogeying four of his final seven holes to conclude the day.
Junior Jonathan Bowers (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Watterson), who was tied for the lead at 2-under following Tuesday's opening round, concluded the Championships at 12-over 225 (69-80-76), good for 89th. Bowers made a nice lengthy birdie putt on his first hole Tuesday, bringing it over a ridge and into the hole before suffering four bogies in the next six holes. He recovered to play his final 11 holes in just two over for a 5-over 76.
Sophomore Josh Dupont (Poway, Calif./Cathedral Catholic) was NU's third golfer with a 5-over 76 Thursday. He went bogey-double-double on holes No. 3-5, but opened his back nine with a birdie on No. 10. A bogey on the 16th hole was his only blemish during a strong finish in the twilight. His overall tournament total was 18-over 231 (75-80-76).
Freshman Sam Chien (San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel), who led NU with a 1-over 72 Wednesday, struggled again Thursday with an 11-over 82 after starting the tourney with an opening-round 10-over 81. Chien concluded his tourney at 22-over 235 (81-72-82).
Rounding out NU's squad was junior David Lipsky (La Canada, Calif./La Canada), who finished the week with a 23-over 236 (79-78-79). Lipsky made a very nice birdie on the extremely long 481-yard par-4 seventh hole Thursday, hitting a nice second shot to the back pin location on the elevated green, but that would be his only red number on the day.
The top eight teams begin the match play portion of the tournament Friday morning.
The Wildcats were in a 12th-place tie during a difficult first day of play at the 2009 NCAA Championships, but things faltered from there. With the 'Cats' last appearance in the NCAA's in 2006, the tournament was a great first national tournament experience for NU's five participants, all of whom return in 2009-10.
Players Mentioned
