The women's golf team completed the fall part of its season Tuesday with a seventh-place finish at the three-round 2008 Edwin Watts-Palmetto Intercollegiate in Kiawah Island, S.C.
Fueled by matching 75s by junior Kelsey Verbeten and sophomore Carly Werwie, the Badgers only trailed East Tennessee State by four strokes after ending the first round in fourth place at 303. The first round marked the only round of the tournament in which all five members of the team broke 80.
But after tournament officials suspended the second round Monday night due to darkness, the Badgers couldn't replicate their first-round success and finished with a total score of 934 (303-317-314).
Freshman Jessie Gerry's two sub-80 rounds led the way for the No. 69 Badgers, who finished 27 strokes behind the champion, Georgia State. Gerry, a Madison native, opened the tournament shooting 77 and 75 in her first two rounds before ending with an 80, good for a total of 232 and a tie for 20th place. The individual champion finished eight strokes ahead at 224.
The respectable finish caps off an impressive start to a promising collegiate career for Gerry, who won the Badger Invitational in September and finished 20th earlier this month at Purdue's Lady Northern Invitational.
Werwie ended the first round tied at 15th after matching her season best with 75, but struggled in round two with an 82 before ending strong with a 76. Werwie finished tied for 23rd at 233, her best tournament finish and 54-hole score of the season.
After her opening round 75, Verbeten labored throughout the rest of the event, shooting 80 and 81 in the final two rounds. The junior from Green Bay ended the tournament tied for 34th with a three-round total of 236.
Senior Isabel Alvarez and freshman Ellie Arkin finished tied for 37th at 237. Alvarez shot a consistent 78-80-79, while Arkin followed a first round 76 with an 82 and a 79.
The Badger's up and down fall half of the season was highlighted by a first-place finish in the Badger Invitational at University Ridge and a fourth-place finish in the Iowa Invitational at Finkbine Golf Course in Iowa City. The Badgers will not play again until Feb. 1 when they travel to Peoria, Ariz., for the Westbrook Cup.
- uwbadgers.com contributed to
this report.
