Northwestern In Ninth at ASU Thunderbird Invitational

4/9/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf

April 9, 2011

First Day Results (PDF Format) Note: Golfstat is adding Northwestern's scores incorrectly from the first round. NU actually shot a 298, giving it a 581 36-hole total

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Northwestern bounced back from a rough morning and tough conditions at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational to register a 15-shot improvement from the first round to the second round Saturday at Karsten Golf Course.

The rains in Tempe were coming down so hard in the morning, they prompted an email from ASU Media Relations staffer Doug Tammaro declaring "...there was a Noah spotting with two of every animal near the course this morning." Meanwhile, NU head coach Pat Goss took to Twitter to praise his team's outstanding adidas rain gear.

The Wildcats struggled to a 10th-place finish after Saturday's opening round in the rain, shooting an 14-over 298. NU bounced back in the second round to fire one of four under-par totals in the afternoon. The 'Cats improved 15 strokes over the morning with a 1-under 283 to jump up to ninth place at 13-over 581 entering Sunday's final 18 holes.

NU is three strokes behind UNLV and Cal State Northridge, and two shots in front of UC Irvine in 10th.

"The sun came out and so did our games," Goss said of the second round on his in-tournament live twitter account, @NUGolf_Live.

Senior David Lipsky (La Canada, Calif./La Canada) leads Northwestern in 15th place individually at even-par 142 (72-70). He got to red numbers early in the morning after skipping a four-iron to the back tier of the green for a birdie on No. 6, but four bogeys against two birdies the rest of the way accounted for an opening-round 1-over 72.

Lipsky came out on fire in the second round, carding birdies at Nos. 2, 6 and 8 for a 3-under 31 on the front nine. He added an eagle on the par-5 14th, but four bogeys on the back side brought him back to a 1-under 70 for the round.

Sophomore Nick Losole (Scottsdale, Ariz./Scottsdale Notre Dame) was NU's steadiest player on the day, ending up in 29th position with a 3-over 145 (73-72) after the first two rounds. In the morning, Losole made back-to-back birdies at Nos. 10 and 11 to move into red figures before a double-bogey on the difficult 209-yard, par-3 12th pushed him back into black. He would end up with a 2-over 73 after a bogey at No. 17.

Losole got his second round off on the right foot with a birdie on No. 1, then made seven pars before a bogey on No. 9 left him at even par at the turn. He again birdied No. 10, but also again fell victim to a double bogey on No. 12 that accounted for his second-round 1-over 72.

Freshman Brad Shigezawa (Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou Academy) is in 32nd position at 4-over 146 (76-70) following 36 holes of play. He birdied his first hole of the day before four-straight bogeys started him on a path toward an opening 5-over 76 that included eight total holes over par. Shigezawa's second round was much different. Though he had an early bogey and a late bogey, it was nothing but pars to go along with birdies at Nos. 6, 10 and 14 for a 1-under 70 in the afternoon.

Junior Eric Chun (Ansung City, South Korea/International Christian School) is 45th entering tomorrow's final round at 6-over 148 (77-71). As he has been mysteriously prone to doing in recent tournaments, he hit his first drive of the day out-of-bounds before recovering to salvage a bogey on the hole. He would end up 1-over after the front nine, but a 5-over 42 on the back led to an opening 6-over 77 for the 2009 Big Ten champion.

In the second round, Chun got to 2-under through 10 with a birdie at the 546-yard, par-5 10th hole before a double bogey at No. 12 put him back to even. On No. 15, Goss convinced a rules official to give Chun relief from a marginal spot, and Chun took advantage with a birdie. Chun would make one more bogey on No. 16 to end up at even-par 71 in the afternoon.

After earning a career-best seventh-place finish competing as a individual in Northwestern's last event, the FAU Spring Break Invitational, senior Ravi Patel (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) was in Goss' original lineup for the Thunderbird. Unfortunately, back problems forced Patel to be a scratch from the team lineup just prior to the tournament. Sophomore Sam Chien (San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel) took his place, while Patel participated as an individual.

Chien struggled through the first round, not making a single birdie en route to a 9-over 80. He fared much better in the second round, playing the front nine in 2-over 36 with a pair of birdies while matching a birdie on No. 14 with a bogey on No. 18 on the back side to end up with a 2-over 73. His 11-over 153 (80-73) puts him in 64th position overall in the field.

Individually, Patel is in 49th place overall at 7-over 149 (74-75). In the first round, Patel birdied Nos. 9 and 11 to get to even par before carding three bogeys in his final five holes for a 3-over 74. In the afternoon, the senior made three bogeys and one birdie on both the front and back nines to end up at 4-over 75.

Northwestern concludes the ASU Thunderbird tomorrow, Sunday, April 10, with the final round of the 54-hole tournament. Live scoring is available at Golfstat.com while head coach Pat Goss' live tweets from the course can be found on Twitter by following @NUGolf_Live.

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