Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Fightiing Illini Invitational
Northwestern Leads Strong Field at Olympia Fields Invitational
9/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Sept. 18, 2009
Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational Round One Results (PDF Format) 
OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. -- With three golfers in the top-10 individually, Northwestern holds a two-stroke advantage on a very strong field after Friday's first round of the 2009 Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational. Sophomore Eric Chun (Ansung City, South Korea/International Christian School) paced the Wildcats with an opening round 2-under 68, putting himself in a three-way tie for the lead.
The Wildcats fired a 6-over 286 Friday on the 7,157 yard, par-70 North Course at Olympia Fields Country Club, two strokes better than No. 25 Florida State and six strokes on top of No. 10 Texas, which is third. The field includes seven of the top 10 and 12 of the top 30 teams nationally as ranked by Golfweek. Those squads are: No. 1 Stanford, No. 2 Oklahoma State, No. 5 Arizona State, No. 6 Illinois, No. 7 Georgia, No. 8 Augusta State, No. 10 Texas, No. 16 USC, No. 18 Florida, No. 25 Florida State, No. 28 Wake Forest and No. 30 San Diego State. In addition, 14 of the top 30 individuals in the country are competing in the tournament.
Chun played the front nine in 1-over par before carding birdies on Nos. 10, 14 and 18 on the back side to come in with a 3-under 32. He is tied with Florida State's Seath Lauer and Arizona State's Scott Pinckney atop the leaderboard.
Freshman Nick Losole (Scottsdale, Ariz./Scottsdale Notre Dame), who placed 15th in his first collegiate tournament a week ago, had a strong start to his weekend with a 1-over 71. Losole birdied the 580-yard opening par 5 before making bogey on Nos. 9 and 10. Back-to-back birdies on 14 and 15 put him under par on the day before he took a double-bogey 6 on No. 18. Losole enters the second round in 10th place.
Junior David Lipsky (La Canada, Calif./La Canada) also is tied for 10th place after turning in a 1-over 71 on Friday. Lipsky made par on the first eight holes of his round before three bogies in four holes put him at 3-over. He recovered with birdies on Nos. 14, 16 and 17 before taking bogey on the final hole of the day.
Senior Jonathan Bowers (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) was 5-over after the front nine before settling down to play the back in 1-over par, finishing with a 6-over 76. He is tied for 43rd position in the individual standings. Sophomore Sam Chien (San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel) rounded out NU's individual competitors with an 11-over 81.
The Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational resumes with the second round Saturday morning. Tee times begin at 8 a.m. CT. The tournament wraps up with the final round on Sunday.
