With just over two weeks until the Big Ten Championships, the ladies of Badger golf took their talent south to Norman, Okla., Sunday to compete in the three-round Susie Maxwell Berning Classic. Wisconsin finished fifth out of 16 teams.
The Susie Maxwell Berning Classic consisted of 88 competitors divided among the 16 teams, one of which, Arkansas-Little Rock, has already bested the Badgers once this spring at the Rio Verde Invitational in Arizona. However, after one round of phenomenal golf, the Badgers sat in second place, bettering Arkansas-Little Rock by one stroke but trailing the team from the University of Oklahoma by six.
Freshman Carly Werwie came out on top for the Badgers in the first round, finishing with a career-best score of 72, matching par. Sophomore Kelsey Verbeten followed closely with a score of 74. Senior Katie Elliott completed the first round in a tie for 31st, shooting a 77, five over par. Juniors Natasha Lopez and Jeana Dahl rounded out the first round for the Badgers, shooting solid scores of 78 and 80 respectively.
Despite dropping to third place after completing the second round of play, the Badgers bettered their first round total by four strokes. Werwie continued her magnificent play and improved upon her first round score by one stroke, finishing with 71 - a new career low for her.
However, stealing the show in the second round for the Badgers was Dahl, who improved upon her first round score by seven strokes, completing the second round with a score of 73. Elliott finished the second round in an overall tie with Dahl with a score of 153, shooting a 77 in the first round and a 76 in the second.
Wisconsin completed the third round of play Monday capturing its fifth-place spot, its best finish since the Iowa Invitational in October where it finished second. Elliott led the Badgers in the third round with a score of 76, four over par, and finished with a score of 229. However, she could not top Werwie's inspiring play.
Werwie led the Badgers overall, completing three rounds of the best golf of her college career and finishing with a score of 225, nine over par. With that score, Werwie improved upon her personal best, a score of 233 achieved at the Iowa Invitational, by eight strokes. She finished in a tie for 17th.
Verbeten completed the outing a mere three strokes behind Werwie and tied for 25th with a score of 228, 12 over par. She finished the final two rounds of the tournament with a pair of solid 77 scores. In doing so, she continues to establish herself as a model of consistency and highly competitive play.
Dahl finished fourth among the Badgers and tied for 40th overall with a score of 231, 15 over par. Lopez rounded out the Badger golfers and tied for 63rd with a score of 240.
Wisconsin's last outing of the year is the Lady Buckeye Invitational in Columbus, Ohio, which runs April 19 through 20. Last year, the Badgers finished ninth in Columbus behind Elliott's tie for 13th with a score of 232. Verbeten tied for 26th with a score of 239.
After capturing their highest finish of the spring season, the Badgers are primed for the upcoming Big Ten Championships April 25 through 27 in University Park, Penn. The team hopes to maintain their high level of play in Ohio and ride it all the way to Pennsylvania in the next few weeks.
