Longaberger Golf Club in Nashport, Ohio, will host NIU and eight other men’s golf teams from the MAC men’s golf tournament.

The tournament starts today with first tee time at 7 a.m.

Longaberger is a new course for the Huskies. When a team plays on a new course, it’s hard to know what to expect, said NIU coach John Cleary.

“It’s a bit of an unknown for us,” Cleary said. “However, it is a top 100-rated golf course in the country. So, we’ll see.”

The Huskies are fresh off the First Energy Invitational at Kent State last weekend. NIU finished seventh out of 12 teams. The Huskies benefited from two individual performances from Zach Jecklin and Jeff Dick.

Jecklin finished second in the tournament, shooting at par with a score of 140 in two rounds. Dick finished seventh overall shooting three over.

Along with Jecklin and Dick, the Huskies need the rest of their guys to play well in the same tournament, Cleary said.

“We need four out of the five guys to play well,” Cleary said. “We’ve had a hard time making that happen.”

One of those golfers is Andrew Frame, former MAC Freshman of the Year. Frame looks to improve from his seventh-place tie at the MAC Championship last year.

One other factor that may have an effect on play is the weather. The forecast calls for rain all weekend.

“You don’t know until you get out there if the weather will help or hurt us,” Cleary said.

Today’s play will consist of two rounds of 18 holes. Saturday and Sunday’s contest will have the golfers shoot 18 holes each day.

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