Champs! Wildcats Win the 21st Windon Memorial Classic

10/9/2017 6:50:00 PM | Men's Golf

SKOKIE, Ill. — The Wildcats surged in the final round of the 21st Windon Memorial Classic at Evanston Golf Club on Monday, finishing in first place and bringing home the Quintessence Trophy.

For Northwestern, it is their fifth time bringing home the title in the always-competitive NU-hosted event. The Wildcats' 835 total team strokes tie their all-time lowest mark (also, Alister MacKenzie Invitational in Oct. 2003).

Despite being in fourth place and trailing first-place Penn State by five strokes, Chicago's Big Ten Team posted the best performance of the day, a 7-under 273 mark that is tied for the fourth-best single-round score in Windon history. Northwestern was five strokes better than the next-closest team in round three.

In the final day, four of the five starting Wildcats were at or under par, led by senior Dylan Wu and sophomore Everton Hawkins, who both carded 3-under 67s.

For Hawkins, it was his second time in three rounds firing off a round of 67, which ties his career high. He finished tied for third place, one stroke off of the lead. That tops his previous career-best finish of sixth place (Desert Mountain Intercollegiate, March 4-5, 2017).

This marks the second-straight season that a Wildcat golfer has been the runner-up at the Windon, as Wu registered that spot on the leaderboard in 2016.

Wu finished the tournament one stroke behind Hawkins, tied for fifth place after his 70-71-67 performance. This is the 17th-straight event that Wu has finished in the top-25.

The Wildcats led the field in birdies, accumulating 45 over the two-day competition, led by Hawkins' field-leading 12 birdies.

Senior Sam Triplett and junior Ryan Lumsden both recorded finishes in the top-20. Triplett moved up eight spots in the final day, thanks to his 1-under 69, aided in part by a nice stretch between holes five and seven that featured back-to-back-to-back birdies.

Lumsden posted his best round in the first round, when he recorded a 4-under 66. He finished the tournament with rounds of 75 and 71.

Junior Luke Miller posted his best round of the season in day three, an even par 70. His front nine was 3-under and included a birdie on the par-five sixth hole, which saw only four eagles in the third round, compared to 20 in the first two rounds, combined.

First years Ethan Farnam and Eric McIntosh, entered as individuals, both fed off the strong playing of the Wildcat starting five in the final round. They carded rounds of 70 and 72, respectively.

Junior Pete Griffith (+14) and first year Harrison Murphy (+21) both also competed in the event for NU.

NU has some time off before returning for their final event of the fall, the two-day Bridgestone Golf Collegiate in Greensboro, North Carolina (Oct. 28-29).

Windon Memorial Skokie, IL Oct 8 - Oct 9, 2017 Round 3 Scores
Evanston Golf Club Windon Memorial Championship - Par 70, 6793 yards Fin.  
      Team                                   Scores         Total     Par
  T1  Penn State....................       280 277 278       835      -5
  T1  Northwestern..................       276 286 273       835      -5
   3  Indiana.......................       277 283 279       839      -1
   4  Iowa State....................       283 284 278       845      +5
  T5  Marquette.....................       276 292 280       848      +8
  T5  Miami University(OH)..........       272 291 285       848      +8
   7  Iowa..........................       276 283 291       850     +10
   8  UC Davis......................       281 291 283       855     +15
   9  Princeton.....................       285 284 289       858     +18
 T10  Eastern Michigan..............       291 287 283       861     +21
 T10  Army West Point...............       282 288 291       861     +21
  12  Wisconsin.....................       294 290 292       876     +36
  13  Northern Illinois.............       283 301 302       886     +46
  14  Loyola U.- Chicago............       302 294 299       895     +55
  15  Columbia......................       313 295 307       915     +75

Windon Memorial Skokie, IL Oct 8 - Oct 9, 2017 Round 3 Scores
Evanston Golf Club Windon Memorial Championship - Par 70, 6793 yards Fin.  
      Players                         Team                                Scores        Total     Par
  T1  Patrick Flavin................. Miami University(OH)..........     65 72 69       206      -4
  T1  Brendon Doyle.................. Indiana.......................     69 72 65       206      -4
  T3  Everton Hawkins................ Northwestern..................     67 73 67       207      -3
  T3  Lachlan Barker................. Iowa State....................     70 67 70       207      -3
  T5  Dylan Wu....................... Northwestern..................     70 71 67       208      -2
  T5  Charles Huntzinger............. Penn State....................     71 67 70       208      -2
  T5  Alex Schaake................... Iowa..........................     68 70 70       208      -2
  T8  Jake Brown..................... Indiana.......................     68 69 72       209      -1
  T8  Ryan Davis..................... Penn State....................     70 69 70       209      -1
 T10  Denzel Ieremia................. Iowa State....................     71 73 66       210       E
 T10  Oliver Farrell................. Marquette.....................     69 74 67       210       E
 T10  Ryan Dornes.................... Penn State....................     69 73 68       210       E
 T13  Cole Miller.................... Penn State....................     70 69 72       211      +1
 T13  Sam Triplett................... Northwestern..................     73 69 69       211      +1
 T13  Jack Sparrow................... Indiana.......................     69 70 72       211      +1
 T13  Matt Murlick................... Marquette.....................     68 73 70       211      +1
 T17  Dean Sakata.................... Army West Point...............     72 72 68       212      +2
 T17  Hunter Eichhorn................ Marquette.....................     68 73 71       212      +2
 T17  Ryan Lumsden................... Northwestern..................     66 75 71       212      +2
 T20  Matthew Walker................. Iowa..........................     68 71 74       213      +3
 T20  Matt Robinson.................. UC Davis......................     67 75 71       213      +3
 T20  Brock Ochsenreiter............. Indiana.......................     71 72 70       213      +3