Wildcats Travel to Big Ten Championships
June 21, 1999 | Men's Golf
May 12, 1999
The Northwestern men's golf team heads to Minneapolis for the 1999 Big Ten Conference Championships, scheduled for May 14-16 at the University of Minnesota's Les Bolstad Golf Course (par 71 - 6,514 yards). NU is currently ranked 13th in the country in the MasterCard Collegiate Golf Rankings and Golfstat head-to-head standings and is 14th in the Golfweek/Sagarin ratings.
The Wildcats are coming off a second-place finish at last weekend's Wolverine Invitational in Ann Arbor, Mich. NU junior Jess Daley posted rounds of 74-67-70 to tie for runner-up honors at two-under-par 211. It marked Daley's highest finish as a Wildcat. Luke Donald took seventh place at 214 while Josh Habig tied for 15th place at 219.
Luke Donald Ranked No. 1 in the Country
Sophomore Luke Donald enters the Big Ten Championships as the top-ranked golfer in the country, according to the May 11 Golfstat Cup rankings. Donald is second in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, behind only Stanford's Joel Kribel. Donald has held either the Golfstat and/or Golfweek No. 1 spot since early April.
Donald holds a stroke average of 70.34 entering the weekend. He has won four events this season, including three-straight tournament titles in March and April (Aldila Collegiate Classic, Dr. Pepper Intercollegiate, Kepler Intercollegiate).
In 29 competitive rounds this year, Donald has shot in the 60s 11 times, including a career-best 66 in the final round of the Dr. Pepper Intercollegiate. Twenty-three of his 29 rounds have been played at-or-below par. Donald has not carded a score higher than 74 this year. Last year, as a freshman, Donald was named All-Big Ten and earned a spot on the GCAA's All-American third team.
NU Wins Three Team Titles This Season
Northwestern has won three team tournament championships during the spring, and enters the Big Ten Champion-ships having finished either first or second at its last five events.
The Wildcats won back-to-back titles at the Marshall Invitational and Kepler Intercollegiate. Those victories were preceded by the Aldila Collegiate Classic. It marks the second time in the last three seasons that Northwestern has recorded consecutive tournament championships. In the 1996-97 season, the Wildcats rattled off four-straight team titles en route to a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Championships.
Northwestern in the Big Ten Championships
The Wildcats have won the Big Ten title four times in school history (1925, 1937, 1939, 1948) and have had six individual winners. Two of those six individual champions have come in the last four years. Former All-American Scott Rowe won in 1995 while teammate Jonathan Loosemore made it back-to-back titles for the Wildcats in 1996.
Last Year at the Big Ten Championships
NU tied for third place at this year's Big Ten Championships, held May 7-10 in East Lansing, Mich. The Cats were tied for first place after one round at 296, and posted the lowest team score of the tournament with a six-under-par 282 in Sunday's final round. This was the first time since 1986-87 that NU finished among the top three in consecutive conference tournaments. In 1997, the Cats finished second.
Luke Donald finished in fourth place at three-over-par 291, including a final round 67 which was the lowest round of the tournament. Jess Daley tied for ninth place at 296, with a final round 68. Matt Seppanen took 12th place at 298 after opening the tournament with a 68.
Back-to-Back NCAA Top-20 Seasons
The past two seasons have marked two of the finest in Northwestern men's golf history. In 1996, Northwestern served as the host for the 100th anniversary of the NCAA Men's Golf Championships. Playing in front of the home crowd, the Wildcats brought home a seventh-place finish, the school's best national showing since 1943.
Last season, despite the loss of three members of the tournament lineup, the Wildcats again made the NCAA Championships, this time bringing home a 19th-place finish. This marked the first time since 1942-43 that Northwestern has notched back-to-back top-20 team finishes at the NCAA Championships.
Donald Named to Palmer Cup Team
For the second-straight year, Luke Donald will be one of 16 collegiate golfers competing in this summer's Palmer Cup, scheduled for June 12-13 at the Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tenn., a suburb of Chattanooga. The same course also hosted the 1996 NCAA Men's Golf Championships.
Donald will play for the eight-member Great Britain/Ireland team which will take on the top eight golfers from the United States. Last year, Donald won three of his four matches for the GB&I squad, but the U.S. team won the overall team title.
Daley Playing Well as Postseason Approaches
Wildcat senior Jess Daley is at the top of his game entering the Big Ten Championships. Daley has recorded three-straight top-10 finishes, including a career-best second place showing at last weekend's Wolverine Invitational.
Daley also tied for ninth at the Kepler Intercollegiate and tied for 10th place at the Marshall Invitational. Daley set a school single-round record on Oct. 30 when he fired an opening-round 64 at Stanford's The Nelson tournament.
Looking Ahead to Regionals
The Wildcats are the No. 2 seed from District 4 at next week's NCAA Central Regionals, being played at Ohio State's Scarlet Course in Columbus, Ohio. Minnesota, Illinois and Purdue are the other Big Ten teams to qualify for regionals. NU will be paired with No. 9 Nebraska and No. 8 Texas in the opening round of the tournament.
The Gleacher Golf Center
On April 22, 1998, Northwestern University announced it had received a $6.1 million gift from Eric J. Gleacher to create a state-of-the-art indoor golf facility and to endow the men's and women's golf programs. It officially opened in January 1999 and is available for use only by the Northwestern men's and women's golf teams.
The $1.1 million Gleacher Golf Center is the finest indoor learning center in the collegiate golf world. The facility, built on the site of the University's old swimming pool located in the Patten Gymnasium complex, measures 89x62 feet and its ceilings peak at 25 feet.
The center includes a teaching area with three permanently mounted video cameras, a three-station hitting area, a 2,375 square foot pitching and putting green, a 280 square foot sand bunker and a locker area for the Wildcat players.
For more information, please refer to page five of this year's Northwestern men's golf media guide or log onto NU's official internet site (www.nusports.com).
Head Coach Pat Goss
Pat Goss is in his third season as head coach of the Wildcats. During his tenure, Goss has led Northwestern to seven tournament titles and nine runner-up finishes. Goss was named 1997 Golfweek National Coach of the Year and 1997 Big Ten Coach of the Year.
