LINCOLN, Neb. - Just two days removed from its spring opener at the UMAC Spring Event, the University of Northwestern Men's Golf team is back in action Monday and Tuesday in Lincoln Nebraska for the 'Howl at the Hill' event, hosted by Nebraska Wesleyan University. To follow along with the action from Hillcrest Country Club, download the Golf Genius app or click here and enter "NWUINVITE26" as the GGID.

Day One

After round one of the tournament, Northwestern sits smack-dab in the middle of the pack in fifth place out of nine participating teams with a score of 318 (+30), just three shots behind third place but 24 shots back of the leader. Leading the way amongst a tightly-packed group of Eagles was Luke Frazell (Waverly, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock), who used a birdie on the par-5 11th to shoot a 78 (+6), which puts him in a tie for 17th place. Two Eagles are one stroke behind Frazell after day one, as Jakob Swanson (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) and Carson Besonen (Madison, Minn./Lac qui Parle Valley) shot matching 79s (+7) and are tied for 22nd among the 51 golfers. Swanson birdied the first hole (albeit not his first as it was a shotgun start), while Besonen carded birdies on holes seven and 15. Carson Mersberger (Kiel, Wis./Elkhart Lake-Glenbeaulah) was the final Eagle who contributed to the four-person team score on Monday, birdieing holes one and 18 to shoot an 82 (+10), which places him in a tie for 32nd. Two more UNW golfers are tied for 46th place after round one, as Jackson Courteau (Otsego, Minn./Rogers) and Trevor Zenk (Forest Lake, Minn./Legacy Christian Academy), who is competing as an individual and cannot count toward the team score, each turned in a score of 86.

Northwestern will begin final-round play in Lincoln on Tuesday with a 9:00 AM shotgun start.

Day Two

UNW's second time seeing the Hillcrest Country Club course proved to be beneficial, as every Eagle shot the same score or better in round two and the team finished in a tie for fourth place at +42 after a second-round 300 (+12). Besonen led the way with a 70 (-2), which tied for the lowest single-round score of the tournament and tied him for sixth overall at +5 for the week. The freshman recorded birdies on holes one, eight and 16, and bogeyed just once. Frazell had a rollercoaster of a day that produced a fruitful result, as five birdies and eight bogeys led to a score of 75 (+3), which gave the rookie a two-day total of +9 and tied him for 13th.

Mersberger shot up the leaderboard after improving his score by eight shots over Monday, carding a pair of birdies on his way to a 76 (+4) and a tie for 24th at +14. Also tying for 24th was Swanson, who was the lone Eagle to not improve his score from Monday, and fired another 79 (+7) with three birdies on the card. Corteau bounced back from his 88 on Monday with an 84 on Tuesday. Zenk also improved on his Monday 88, finishing one shot back of Courteau with a second-round 85.

Up Next

Northwestern will next be in action Thursday, April 23rd at the MLC Spring Invite in New Ulm.