When it comes to Northwestern’s teams on the fairway, the school’s women’s golf program — which won the NCAA National Championship this year —- surely dominated this season’s narrative.
As the women’s team took home the sport’s highest title, NU’s men’s golf team experienced a decline this past season. The Wildcats entered their 2025 season hoping to defend the Big Ten title they amassed the previous year — instead, they finished 12th.
Then-junior Daniel Svärd eyed his third-straight individual first-place finish at the event, but finished 19th.
In his 11th year leading the program and his 15th at NU, coach David Inglis’ squad got off to a rocky start this past season, failing to place among the top 10 in its first two events of the season.
Despite a mid-season surge, the ’Cats never regained their traction from the previous year, in which the team sat atop the conference for the first time since 2006.
Svärd and then-senior Cameron Adam received All-Big Ten First Team honors amid the program’s lull.
For the second year in a row, Svärd was a unanimous pick for the All-Big Ten squad. He had the team’s highest number of top-five finishes during its 2024-25 campaign, including a tie for first place at The Goodwin, NU’s penultimate contest of the season. That day, Svärd shot 5-under-205 and the ’Cats placed ahead of 10 ranked teams, including No. 13 Utah.
Adam received the First Team bid after a First Team placement during his junior year. He led NU with a 70.71 average score during the regular season slate and won an individual championship at The Clerico this past fall, shooting a 3-under-207.
The ’Cats received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament last season, but fell short of an NCAA Championship bid with a 10th-place finish at the Tallahassee Regional. Adam led NU’s postseason campaign with an individual fifth-place finish at the regional.
During the offseason, Inglis picked up Rowan Sullivan, a junior transfer from Vanderbilt with three years of eligibility remaining. Other newcomers include two freshmen, Monty Holcombe from England and Isaac Lee from Hong Kong.
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Related Stories:
— Adam finishes fifth at NCAA Tallahassee Regional as NU wraps up season
— Northwestern men’s golf has three players make All-Big Ten Team
— Northwestern men’s golf 12th, Svärd 19th at Big Ten Championships
