Northwestern Tied for Fifth at Big Ten Championships

4/29/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf

April 29, 2011

2011 Big Ten Championships Friday Results (PDF Format)

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- On a beautiful, sunny day at the opening of the 2011 Big Ten Championships, Northwestern is in a tie for fifth place at the halfway point of the tournament at the Kampen Course in West Lafayette, Ind.

Northwestern and host Purdue each shot identical rounds of 13-over 301 and 5-over 293 to end up at 18-over 594 following the first 36 holes of the event Friday. The pair sits two shots behind fourth-place Michigan and three shots in back of third-place Penn State. NU and Purdue are two shots in front of seventh-place No. 37 Indiana.

No. 9 Illinois leads the tournament at even-par 581 while No. 14 Iowa is in second at 10-over 587.

Northwestern teed off the back nine Friday, encountering the toughest stretch of the Kampen Course right off the bat.

Sophomore Nick Losole (Scottsdale, Ariz./Scottsdale Notre Dame) made double bogey on his second hole of the Big Ten Championships (No. 11), but got both strokes back with consecutive birdies on Nos. 14 and 15. His next 12 holes consisted of 10 pars and two bogeys -- including one on his final hole of the round, No. 9 -- to give him a 2-over 74.

In the second round, Losole made birdie on No. 11 to start on the right side of par, ending up with a 1-over 73 that placed him in 12th in the standings with a 3-over 147 (74-73) entering Saturday's third round.

Junior Eric Chun (Ansung City, South Korea/International Christian School) made four-straight bogeys on holes No. 11, 12, 13 and 14 to open his 2011 Big Ten Championships, but he stopped that streak and played bogey-free golf from there on in. After a great flop shot that nearly holed out for birdie at No. 2, Chun carded his second birdie of the round at No. 6 to battle back to a 2-over 74 in the morning.

Chun blazed to 2-under par on his second round with back-to-back birdies at Nos. 14 and 15. He lost a ball on the next hole, however, when he went for the 608-yard par 5's green in two, resulting in a double-bogey seven. Three bogeys on the front side put Chun at 3-over with four holes to play. He then made birdie at No. 6 for the second time on the day before another birdie at No. 8 and a bogey at No. 9 resulted in his second 2-over 74 of the day, placing him 18th individually at 4-over 148 (74-74).

"Eric hung in there during the morning to get back to 2-over," head coach Pat Goss said. "Unfortunately he lost his ball on No. 16, but he played great and did not seem fazed at all by the double."

Freshman Jack Perry (Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara) found himself at 3-over par through 13 holes in his first round Friday before he pitched in for birdie on the 230-yard par-3 fifth hole. A bogey at No. 7 left him at 3-over 75 after the first round of play. In round number two, Perry began with back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 10 and 11, eventually carding a 3-over 39 going out. He played the front side in 1-under par with two birdies against just one bogey for a solid 2-over 74 and a 5-over 149 (75-74) after two rounds of play. He is in 23rd place.

2010 Big Ten individual champion David Lipsky (La Canada, Calif./La Canada) had a tough opening round in his title defense, making just one birdie in a round of 6-over 78.

"David was pressing during the first round and this course is too hard for that," Goss said. "He did a much better job staying relaxed and patient in the second round."

In that round, Lipsky was burning the hole during his entire opening nine, sending birdie putts over the edge of the cup on Nos. 13, 14 and 15. After an even-par back side, Lipsky's patience was rewarded when one of those putts fell at No. 1. Back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 5 and 6 put him back over par, but he birdied his 36th and final hole of the day to finish at even-par 72 in the afternoon and 6-over 150 (78-72) for Friday, good for 27th position.

Senior Josh Dupont (Poway, Calif./Cathedral Catholic) had a tough start to his day, making double-bogey on the par-3 13th to move to 3-over through four holes. He recovered with birdies at Nos. 15 and 17 -- the other difficult par 3 on the back -- before a bogey at No. 18 gave him a 2-over 38 going out. Another double bogey on No. 1 contributed to a 4-over 40 on the front and a 6-over 78 in the opening round.

Dupont opened with a birdie at No. 12 in his second round, but three bogeys gave him another 38 on the back side. His front was much more controlled and included a birdie on the 230-yard par-3 fifth before another pair of bogeys left him at 3-over 75 for the round and 9-over 153 (78-75) through 36 holes. Dupont is in 36th place individually.

Northwestern returns to action in the third round of the 2011 Big Ten Championships tomorrow, Saturday, April 30. Live scoring is available at Golfstat.com. Live tweets from the course are available from Pat Goss at @NUGolf_LIVE.

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