While the temperature was dropping in Madison, the Wisconsin Badgers men's golf team started to heat up at the St. Mary's Invitational at the par-71, 6,639-yard Poppy Hills Golf Course in Pebble Beach, Calif..
The No. 51 Badgers thrived under the sun finishing in second place just five strokes behind the University of San Francisco.
Wisconsin junior Jordan Elsen who finished two-under par with a 211 over the three-round tournament led the way for Wisconsin. The 54-hole total of 211 was a career-best for Elsen, who also shot the best round of his career with a 69 in the second round. Elsen also finished first in par 4, scoring for the tournament with an average of 3.89 on par-4 holes.
The Badgers also received strong play from seniors Tyler Obermueller and Dan Woltman who finished the tournament tied for ninth and 11th place, respectively.
Obermueller finished one-over par with a 214 for the tournament, one stroke shy of his career best. Woltman finished one stroke back of Obermueller with a two-over par at 215, and shot a team-best 69 in the final round.
With three players finishing in the top 11, it is no surprise this was the best result for the team since the VCU Shootout last season. Elsen, Obermueller and Woltman all shot at least one round under-par with Obermueller posting a team best round of 68 in the second round.
Rounding out the five-man team was senior Dan Zimmerman and sophomore Craig Cerbins. Zimmerman shot an 8-over par at 221 for the tournament and finished tied for 42nd. Cerbins shot a career best 72 in the third round and finished 18-over par with a 231 in his first collegiate tournament.
The invitational began on Monday and after two rounds the Badgers were in third place. The Badgers got off to a slow start posting a 12-over score at 296 in the first round but followed it up with their best round of the season, a three-under score of 281.
Wisconsin trailed San Francisco by five strokes heading into the third and final round of the tournament on Tuesday. The Badgers left it all out on the course shooting a one-under par score of 283, the second consecutive under-par round for Wisconsin. Unfortunately for Wisconsin, the Dons from San Francisco kept pace and shot 283 for the round.
Next, the Badgers head to Memphis, Tenn. for the Memphis Intercollegiate on Oct. 6.
- uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
