While Northern Illinois' golf team has to fight for recognition on the course, as many mid-major schools have to, they have gotten attention both nationally and internationally for their efforts to build the program...and host competitions at a top-flight golf club.
NIU Director of Golf Tom Porten says NIU broke onto the national scene when Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove was chosen to host the 2017 NCAA Men's and Women's Golf Championships; the course was built by a Northern Illinois alumnus, and that allows the Huskies to use it as their home course. Porten says it's tougher than the links they usually play on -- and that's good, because it toughens them up for tournament play.
Meanwhile, Porten has worked in his nine years at Northern to widen the range of golfers he chooses from; he became the first NIU golf coach to recruit internationally, bringing two players from France to the men's team and opening the door to two South American golfers to join the women's squad. He also works to draw in the best available talent from around our area, and across the Midwest.
That effort is beginning to pay off on the fairways, as both teams have finished in the top half of several of their tournaments in 2017...and the trend has continued this year.