May 6, 2004

EVANSTON, Ill. -- After finishing 10th at last week's Fossum/TaylorMade Invitational, and finishing eighth among the nine Big Ten schools, Northwestern's men's golf team needs to bounce back this weekend with a solid performance at the Big Ten Championships, which are being hosted by the University of Michigan. The U-M Golf Course (par 71, 6,704 yards) is the host course.

A solid effort by the Wildcats should help land an eighth straight NCAA regional berth. But head coach Pat Goss does not want to leave anything to chance.

"We're going to Michigan with the intent to win this tournament and get the automatic NCAA berth," he says. "But for us to do that, we need our guys to play to their potential and have a great weekend. That's our challenge heading into Saturday."

The Wildcats are seeded sixth in the 11-team tournament. Northwestern dropped 10 spots to 52nd in the Golfweek/Sagarin national ratings after last weekend's disappointing finish at Michigan State. Minnesota, the two-time defending champion and the only school to win the Big Ten title since the Wildcats snared titles in 1999, 2000 and 2001, is the top seed and the nation's 12th-ranked team.

This year's tournament -- for the first time since 1926 -- will not use a 72-hole format. The tournament will consist of 36 holes on Saturday, and 18 holes on Sunday. The 54-hole format mirrors other regular-season tournaments and the NCAA Regional tournament format.

The University of Michigan Golf Course was designed in the late 1920s by Alister MacKenzie, one of golf's all-time greatest architects.The U-M Golf Course is one of only six MacKenzie-designed golf courses in the United States, including the famed Augusta National.

Live stats and latest results are available for the tournament by linking to 2004 Big Ten Championships. Other tournament information can be found at Michigan Wolverines and Big Ten Men's Golf Championships.