The University of Wisconsin-Madison men’s golf team made their return to the course March 10-11, at the Seminole Intercollegiate, hosted by Florida State. This was the first tournament since mid-February when the Badgers took 15th out of 15 teams at the Puerto Rico Classic.
This field was no easier than the Puerto Rico Classic, as one of the teams the Badgers faced off against was No. 20 Florida State with Luke Clanton, a collegiate golfer who just earned his PGA Tour card two weeks ago at the Cognizant Classic.
The Badgers lineup consisted of juniors, Jacob Beckman and Spencer Turtz, senior Graham Moody and two freshmen — Charles Erlandson and William Harned. Senior Evan Myers also competed as an individual in this event. Harned shot one over across his three rounds in Puerto Rico, leading all Badgers who participated in the event.
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Round one was tough for the Badgers, as they found themselves in 10th out of 15 teams, shooting six over par. As an individual, Myers shot even par – though it didn’t count toward the team score – in the first round.
Beckman led the Badgers at one-under par through the first round while Erlandson and Harned went two- and three-over respectively. Moody poured in a solid two-over while Turtz had his score scratched, going five-over in the first round.
These scores are solid, but when Florida State has Clanton shooting six-under after round one, along with several of his teammates individually shooting even par or better, it is tough to compete. Furthermore, Clanton’s worst round was five-under as he coasted to a five-shot victory on the player’s leaderboard, in which four members of Florida State cracked the top eight.
Round two the Badgers held relatively steadfast, shooting eight-over but not moving up or down the team leaderboard. Turtz bounced back with an even par round two, Moody still looked to find his footing – shooting three over. Myers went two-over, Erlandson and Harned went three- and four-over and Beckman went two-over. Harned had his score scratched as the Badgers failed to have anyone in red figures after the second round.
The third round the Badgers made a move, climbing from tenth to sixth on the team leaderboard, shooting a combined even par as a team.
Turtz went two-under in round three, shooting a total of three over for the tournament and climbing 23 spots for a finish within the top 25 at 23rd. Moody also made a move, climbing 16 spots after going one-under in round three and four-over for the tournament to finish in 30th.
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Erlandson went two-over, climbing one spot to finish in 45th. Harned went one-over to climb 10 spots into a 52nd-place finish. Two Badgers fell down the board after round three. Myers fell after carding a four-over 74 in the third round, finishing the tournament in a tie for 42nd. Beckman fell 37 spots to finish in 58th after shooting eight-over, his score being scratched for the team.
While the Badgers may not have finished in the top five and only had one player in the top 25, this is a much-needed improvement after their first tournament of the spring season. The freshmen are playing well, and the Badgers have started to show they can compete against good teams. They tee it back up in no time, staying in Georgia to compete in The Schenkel Invitational at Georgia Southern, from March 21-23.