The UW men's golf team is on a roll. In the last two tournaments, the team has placed first in dramatic fashion. At the Michigan Radrick Farms Invitational on Sept. 11-12 the Badgers, in a Cinderella story, came out of nowhere and moved from fifth into a tie for first in the tournament. The Badgers won the tiebreaker by having the lowest team score of the day therefore claiming a victory.
Last weekend, the Badgers moved to the top at Verona's University Ridge. Riding a team score of 276, eight strokes less than any other team's best, the Badgers put themselves in the driver's seat and finished Sunday six strokes ahead of second-place finisher Penn State.
Wisconsin sophomore Garret Jones turned in an individual score of 214 for the weekend, which earned him an overall ranking of fourth place. Though it was a great accomplishment, perhaps the most memorable moment for Jones would be what the par-three 12th had in store for him on Saturday.
From the 12th tee, Jones lined up a 191-yard shot that found the bottom of the cup for his first career hole-in-one. His performance, along with freshman Adam DeLawyer's 69 in only his second collegiate meet, both contributed to a school record 276 for 18 holes.
DeLawyer, however, wasn't the only freshman putting up good numbers. Freshman Jeff Kaiser made a surge on the final day with a score of 71 and found himself moved from 35th into a tie for 20th place in the standings. DeLawyer's spectacular first round 68 was the lowest individual 18-hole score throughout the tournament. Also among the 20th ranked finishers was senior Brian Brodell.
The final scorers for the Badgers were senior Ryan Conn and sophomore Adam Steinhofer. Conn tied for 27th place in the meet with a score of 222 while Steinhofer shot a 224 in his first home meet with the Badgers.
The Badgers' pair of wins marks the first time the team has come up with consecutive victories since Sept. 9-10 and Oct. 9-10 of 2000.
The Badger men's golf team will look to keep rolling on the road next weekend as they make the trip to Iowa City for the University of Iowa Invitational at Finkbine Golf Course.
