The UW men's golf team escaped the dreary weather in Madison and headed south to Pinehurst, N.C. to compete at the Mid Pines Intercollegiate. When it was over, the Badgers had their first tournament victory since Sept. 2004.
The Badgers scored an 847 over the three-round tournament to finish two strokes ahead of Old Dominion. The final score was the second best 54-hole score in UW team history.
Wisconsin began the day in second place by two strokes but came back with a final round 285, the best score of the third day. Wichita State entered the final round with a two stroke lead but put in a 289 on the last day to finish tied for second.
The Badgers were led by Junior Jeff Kaiser who tied for fourth among all golfers with a 209 and had a 69 on the final day. Last year Kaiser played in all of UW's rounds and was second on the team in scoring average.
Finishing second on the team was sophomore Dan Woltman who finished the tournament three strokes behind Kaiser and eighth overall. Woltman is a Wisconsin native who transferred to UW from Kentucky. Last year Woltman competed in all of Kentucky's tournaments, finishing the season ranked No. 134 in the nation according to Golfweek Magazine.
Returning scoring leader, senior Garrett Jones, finished ninth in the tournament and scored a final round 72. Jones set the UW single season scoring record as a sophomore with 72.7 strokes per round. Last season his 73.08 strokes was the second lowest scoring season in school history.
Rounding out the Wisconsin top five were Tyler Obermueller and Adam Steinhofer. Obermueller played in 30 of 36 rounds last season and had the fourth lowest scoring average on the team as a freshman. Steinhofer is one of two seniors but did not play in a majority of Wisconsin's rounds last year.
The Badgers return eight of their 10 players from last season which saw the Badgers finish 8th in the Big Ten tournament failing to finish in the top half of many of the tournaments in which they played. Fortunately the players lost only played a combined 3 rounds last year.
Patrick Duffy, Nick Engen and Ben Herrera are all returning from strong freshman seasons and are looking to improve. None of them played in the Mid Pines Intercollegiate.
Wisconsin brings in four freshman, including Craig Cerbins, the 2005 Wisconsin High School Player of the Year from Berlin, Wis.
Next up for the Badgers is the Wolverine Invitational in Ann Arbor, Mich. That competition will take place Sept. 16-17.
