April 29, 2004

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern's men's golf team heads to East Lansing, Mich. this weekend for the 37th Annual Bruce Fossum/TaylorMade Invitational. This 54-hole tournament, which has become the Wildcats' annual tuneup for the Big Ten Championships, will be played Saturday and Sunday (May 1 and 2) on Michigan State's Forest Akers West Course (par 72, 7,013 yards).

The Wildcats, ranked 42nd in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin index, will face eight of their 10 Big Ten foes, including 11th-ranked Minnesota, this weekend. Only Penn State and Purdue will be missing from the Fossum field. In addition to the nine Big Ten teams, Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Michigan, Louisville, Notre Dame and Toledo are participating in this year's 14-team tournament.

Northwestern is the third-highest ranked team in the field behind Minnesota and Toledo (No. 36). Several other teams are right behind the Wildcats, however, including Indiana (No. 44), Illinois (No. 48), Ohio State (No. 49) and Michigan State (No. 77).

In addition to the strong Big Ten field, this tournament also features 14 teams from the Midwest District. The teams that finish high in this tournament will only strengthen their NCAA postseason chances.

"It's an important tournament for us for several reasons," says Northwestern coach Pat Goss. "We want to play well, not only for momentum and confidence for next weekend, but also to improve our region ranking." The Big Ten Championships will be held May 7-9 at the University of Michigan.

Kent State and Toledo tied for last year's team championships, while Illinois' James Lepp was the individual champion.

Under Goss, the Wildcats have won the Fossum Invitational on two occasions: in 1997 and 2001. Last year, Northwestern placed seventh at the event.

The Fossum/Spartan Invitational began in 1966 with eight schools participating and grew to 25 teams in the late 1970s. The tournament was renamed in 1992 in honor of Bruce Fossum, longtime Spartan coach and teacher.

For more information on the tournament and a live tournament leaderboard on Sunday, visit Michigan State Spartans.