The University of Minnesota men's golf team finished second at the Big Ten/Pac 10 Challenge at the Glen Club in Glenview, Ill. The Gophers shot rounds of 294-282 -297=863 (-1) finishing three shots behind host Northwestern at 4-under 860. Northwestern's David Merkow won medalist honors firing a 7-under 209 edging Washington's James Lepp by one shot and Minnesota freshman Antti Ahokas by two strokes. Ahokas carded rounds of 71-70-70 to finish at 5-under 211.

Junior Niall Turner and sophomore Clayton Rask finished tied for 14th at 1-over 217. Turner fired a 69 in the second round which was completed this morning and Rask had two under par rounds on Tuesday. Senior Josh Persons tied for 30th at 6-over 222 after a 77 in the final round. Junior Bronson La'Cassie carded a 74 in the final round and finished tied for 46th at 10-over 226.

The Big Ten won the Challenge part of the tournament. Scoring was the six-best team scores for each round. The Big Ten had 51 fewer strokes than the Pac-10. The series is tied 1-1.

The Gophers return to action Oct. 9-10, at the Duke Classic in Durham, N.C.