The Wisconsin women’s golf team finished 16th in the Lady Puerto Rico Classic, which wrapped up Tuesday. It was the Badgers’ second spring tournament and came after a win over Indiana in the spring opener.
The Badgers were led by senior Katie Elliott, who tied for 44th overall. She averaged 76 strokes for the three rounds but saved her best for last with a 74 on the final day.
As a team, Wisconsin finished 62 strokes above par, eight better than Iowa State and 20 better than Minnesota.
Junior Natasha Lopez had the second-best score on the Badger team and tied for 56th with an overall score of 230. She shot 78 and 79 on the first two days and closed out with a team best 73 on Tuesday. Lopez averaged a 77.1 in the fall season.
The third-best Wisconsin player was freshman Carly Werwie. She had a second round 70 and tied for 70th place with a 235. Werwie won her match against Indiana in the previous tournament by shooting a 77.
The Badgers’ fourth and fifth spots were rounded out by sophomore Kelsey Verbeten and Junior Jeana Dahl. Verbeten had a 238 and had her best round on the final day with a 77. That score was good for a tie for 77th place.
Dahl finished tied for 82nd after sandwiching her middle round 77 with a pair of scores at 82 on the first day and the last day. She finished eight shots above her season low of 230. Before winter break she had an average of 79.1.
Elliott did not have the lowest score on the team in the first three tournaments of the fall. However, she led the team in the final two fall tournaments and finished with the best score in Puerto Rico. She averaged 75.7 strokes per round in the first half, topping her teammates by 2.4 strokes.
The University of Alabama won the tournament, while Louisiana State and Kent State took second and third respectively. Of the four Big Ten teams in the field, Purdue fared the best, tying for fifth. The tournament covered a total of 6,168 yards.
Wisconsin is off until March 7 when they go to Rio Verde, Ariz., for the Rio Verde Invitational. In that tournament last season, Elliott tied for third with a 220, and the Badgers earned sixth place as a team.
—uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
