March 11, 2010

DEKALB, Ill. - The Northern Illinois men's golf team will open its spring season this weekend, when the Huskies travel to North Carolina to compete in the 15-team Pinehurst Intercollegiate, presented by Gatorade, at Centennial Pinehurst No. 8 in Pinehurst, N.C. The three-round, 54-hole tournament will be held Friday, March 12,-Sunday, March 14, with tee-times set for 8 .am., Friday and Saturday, and an 8 a.m. shotgun start Sunday

"It's great to be able to be at Pinehurst to start the season," NIU head men's golf coach Tom Porten said. "It is a really historic golf area, and we are playing on a terrific golf course. We have the opportunity to face a nice, strong field of teams this weekend. "

The Huskies will face Ball State, Belmont, Eastern Kentucky, Francis Marion, Marshall, Michigan State, North Carolina-Greensboro, Old Dominion, Penn State, Radford, Richmond, Southern Methodist, Virginia Commonwealth and Virginia Tech at the event.

"It will be a well-represented field of athletes," said Porten. "This competition brings a cross section of competition with teams from across the country, the Big Ten and the MAC all competing on the same field, and we are just excited to be able to start the spring season here."

Competing for NIU will be Jeff Dick (Sherman, Texas/Sherman), Griffin Bauman (Crystal Lake, Ill./Central), Matt Triplett (St. Charles, Ill./East), Paul Hammerschmidt (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville Central) and Kurtis Luedtke (Aurora, Ill./West).

"Jeff is our leader on the golf course," said Porten. "He's had a really good week of practice and has been looking really strong out on the golf course. We will look to him to play well and lead us in competition this weekend."

During the fall season, NIU was led by Dick, who competed in five tournaments and recorded a 74.93 stroke average. The junior led the Huskies at the Austin Peay Invitational, NU/Windon Invitational, and the ORU Invitational.

Triplett, Bauman and Luedtke each competed in four tournaments for the Huskies during the fall. Triplett finished the season with a 76.75 stroke average, while Bauman and Luedtke finished with stroke averages of 78.17 and 78.50, respectively.

Live results for the 2010 Pinehurst Intercollegiate can be found here: 2010 Pinehurst Intercollegiate Live Results