Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Rice Intercollegiate
Northwestern, Chun in Lead at Rice Intercollegiate
2/20/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Feb. 20, 2012
HOUSTON -- Senior Eric Chun (Ansung City, South Korea/International Christian School) is tied for the individual lead and Northwestern sits in first place as a team following the opening 36 holes Monday of the Rice Intercollegiate at Westwood Golf Club.
Chun currently is 3-under for the tournament, tied with Kyle Westmoreland of Air Force atop the standings. The Wildcats as a team carded rounds of 1-over 289 and 1-under 287 to sit three strokes clear of second-place Florida Gulf Coast in the 15-team field.
"We are a different team than in the fall," head coach Pat Goss tweeted prior to Monday's action. "All players have improved and we have (Nick) Losole back and healthy."
The Wildcats began the shotgun start sprinkled among the fourth and seventh holes Monday, and quickly struggled all the way to a 6-over par team total. At the point, NU's improvement kicked in and the Wildcats had a strong finish to the morning that carried over into the afternoon round.
Goss described the course as long and wet following weekend-long rains that soaked the Houston area. The real challenge Monday, he said, were the greens, which were slow and soft. "One thing we struggled with today was short putts," Goss tweeted. "Must have missed 8-10 putts inside four feet."
The tournament concludes with the final round Tuesday morning.
Chun made three birdies in his first 11 holes Monday morning, but followed each one with a bogey almost immediately. A fourth birdie at the 461-yard par-4 16th got him to red figures before he carded pars on the remaining five holes of his round for an opening 1-under 71.
In the second round, Chun ran to 3-under through seven following a birdie at the 10th hole. He gave back a stroke on the short 345-yard par-4 13th before getting it back again on No. 2. A final bogey on the 183-yard par-3 third accounted for his second round 2-under 70 and a 3-under 141 (71-70) total entering Tuesday's final round.
Junior Nick Losole (Scottsdale, Ariz./Scottsdale Notre Dame) started his day with a bogey, then found himself 3-over through eight following bogeys at Nos. 12 and 13. He righted the ship with eight pars and two birdies over the final 10 holes for an opening 1-over 73.
"Good fight to the end," Goss tweeted. "Losole birdies two of last five to shoot +1." During the second round, Goss tweeted "Been watching Losole (the) last nine holes. Really playing well and getting lots of birdie chances."
In that second round, Losole birdied his first hole before a bogey at No. 15 put him back to even. He immediately went back into the red with birdies at Nos. 17 and 1, finishing at 1-under 71 in the afternoon for a 36-hole total of even-par 144 (73-71). He is tied for seventh place.
Senior Sam Chien (San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel), the reigning Big Ten Golfer of the Week, made birdie at his second hole of competition Monday, the 560-yard par-5 sixth. That birdie began a round featuring five birdies and five bogeys for an opening even-par 72. Despite a stumble with a bogey at the par-5 12th, which features a difficult risk-reward tee shot, Chien made birdie at the other three par-5 holes in the morning round.
In the afternoon, a birdie-birdie start soon evaporated and ballooned to a 3-over total through 12 holes after a triple-bogey six on No. 15 when he found the water and a short missed putt on No. 16. He fought back with a birdie at No. 1 to end up at 2-over 74 in the afternoon and 2-over 146 (72-74) for the first day. Chien is in 19th position individually.
Sophomore Jack Perry (Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara) started on No. 4 and quickly birdied the fifth before a stretch of no birdies and four bogeys caused him to be 3-over with three to play. He finished strong, however, with birdies at Nos. 1 and 3 for a 1-over 73 in his first round.
Perry again birdied the easy-scoring fifth hole early in the second round, eventually working his way around to 1-under with two to play following a birdie at No. 1. A short game double on No. 3 -- his final hole of the day -- gave him another 1-over 73 and a 19th-place 2-over 146 entering Tuesday's final round.
Freshman Bennett Lavin's (Deerfield, Ill./Deerfield) tournament got off to a rough start when he made triple bogey on his second hole, the 240-yard par-3 eighth. Two more quick bogeys found him at 5-over through just five holes. He turned on the switch after that, making three-straight birdies on holes 13, 14 and 15 to get back to 2-over on the morning before finishing at 3-over 75.
"Love the resilience," tweeted Goss.
In the second round, Lavin again could not tame the eighth, this time carding a double bogey 5. A bogey at No. 3 put him 3-over again, but the freshman fought back with birdies at Nos. 4 and 6 to finish the second round with a 1-over 73 and the first day at 4-over 148 (75-73). He stands in 32nd position on the individual leaderboard.
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