On Easter Sunday when many were spending the holiday with family and friends, UW freshmen golfer Patrick Duffy was busy jumping up nine spots in the Robert Keplen Intercollegiate Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio.
By doing so, he helped propel the Badgers up to a 13th place finish. However, the road to becoming a Badger and eventually helping the team move up the leader board was not easy.
I always wanted to come to Madison,\ Duffy said. ""I mean, I wasn't on scholarship or anything, [so] I walked on my freshman year. At that point, golf was just an added benefit.""
While Duffy is a sophomore academically, he has freshman eligibility due to a redshirt season that helped improve his game immensely.
""It was huge. I mean I came to school here and I was still able to shoot some decent rounds but my swing really wasn't going to cut it,"" Duffy said. ""We worked the whole year on changing my swing, and the time we spent in the winter, in the golf dome, really helped me out.""
It seems that the work is starting to pay off for Duffy, as he scored one shot better every round as last weekend's tournament progressed.
While it is true that one of the most important aspects of having a good golf game is securing a solid swing motion, there are plenty of other skills that need to be honed in order to score a good round and compete at the Division 1 level.
""I needed to work on my putting a lot,"" Duffy said. ""So this winter I spent a lot of time on my putting, [and] this spring I spent a lot of time on it as well.""
While it has been a long process to get where he has gotten, Duffy focuses only on getting better.
""I haven't played too exceptional, but hopefully it's all going to come together one of these days.""
With such emphasis placed on major golf tournaments such as the Masters, PGA Championship and the British and U.S. Opens, the common golf fan may believe golf is solely an individual sport. In contrast, the team concept plays a major role in the college golf scene, and UW is fully aware.
After a recent string of somewhat disappointing finishes, the UW men's golf team feels they need to right the ship as they head down the stretch run of the season.
""I think last week was kind of an eye-opener for us,"" Duffy said. ""[So] I think this week is a huge week for us.""
The Badgers will head to East Lansing, Mich., to play in the Fossum Invitational this weekend for the final tune-up before the Big Ten Championships.
""If we play our game, I know we can compete with the best teams in the Big Ten,"" Duffy said. ""So hopefully if we play well this weekend and get a little momentum going [we can] take that into the Big Tens where hopefully we can win and take that into regionals.""
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