The women’s golf season concluded with the Big Ten Women’s Golf Championships at the Bulle Rock Golf Course in Baltimore, Maryland. The Big Ten was a strong women’s golf conference all season, and all 18 teams appeared in the championships.
The conference is headlined by schools like No. 5 Oregon, No. 7 USC, No. 10 Northwestern, No. 14 Ohio State and No. 24 Michigan State. While the Badgers came into the championship unranked, they were still coming off a strong spring season.
As expected, the Badgers’ lineup consisted of all three seniors — Carly Carter, Chloe Chan and Vanessa Ho. The Badgers also gave sophomore Kate Brody a start, along with the hot-swinging junior, Alexia Siehl, who placed top ten in the last event of the regular season, the Buckeye Invitational. Freshman Izzi Stricker also travelled with the team as a substitute, but she did not play.
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Round one saw a hot Badgers team through nine holes, finding themselves in third, shooting six over. Though they shot a better second nine of one under, for a total of five over after the first round, the Badgers fell to fifth.
Brody led the Badgers with three birdies and only one bogey to shoot a two-under 70, putting her one shot behind the 18-hole lead of three under. After a one-over first nine, Siehl went one under on the second nine to shoot an even par round of 72 on day one.
Chan recorded five bogeys and one birdie over her first six holes but settled down to play the final 12 at one under, finishing with a three over 75 for the day. Carter also had an up-and-down round, wrapping up play with a 76, four over par. It was Ho who had her score scratched as she shot a nine-over-par score of 81.
The second round was an exciting day at the golf course, as Michigan State surged on day two, shooting seven under as a team. They moved up from fourth to first, claiming a three-shot lead over the field with one day to play. In classic moving day fashion, many teams climbed and fell, but the Badgers held steady in fifth.
The Badgers improved their team score to three over in the second round, led by the play of the seniors, Chan and Ho. Chan carded four birdies and four bogeys to shoot even par, while Ho, after starting two under through two holes, finished the day with five total birdies, two bogeys and one triple bogey to shoot even par.
After the strong first round from Brody, she found herself three over through eleven holes, but fought hard to turn in a scorecard of 73, one over par — sitting in fifth place through two rounds, two shots off the lead.
The last score to count was from Siehl, who carded three birdies and five bogeys to shoot a 74, two over par. She was square inside the top 25 at 22nd heading into the final round. Carter had her score scratched, though she shot a respectable four-over par.
The final round was dominated by the Oregon Ducks, as they shot 12 under par as a team. This cruised them into a fourteen-shot victory, coming off trailing by three shots heading into the final round. The Badgers shot another three-over round as a team, dropping one spot into a sixth-place finish amongst a strong field.
Brody continued her incredible play in the final round, notching six birdies and three bogeys for a three-under par round of 69. Brody finished the tournament in four-under par, finishing in a tie for second place amongst many of the best women’s collegiate golfers in the nation.
This performance by Brody ties the highest finish a Wisconsin women’s golfer has ever had in a Big Ten Championship in program history. Furthermore, this was Brody’s best placement and the lowest event scoring total of her collegiate career. Talk about stepping up on the biggest stage — it was impressive to watch.
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Siehl, after a birdie-free, four-over par first nine, bounced back with two birdies, no bogeys, on the second nine to turn in a two-over round of 74. She finished the tournament with a cumulative score of four-over par, which, even after dropping three spots, finished her within the top 25, in 25th place exactly.
Seniors Carter and Ho matched Siehl, as they both turned in scorecards of 74, two-over par. Both of them had one birdie and three bogeys on the scorecard. For the whole tournament, Carter and Ho shot 10 over and 11 over, finishing in 50th and 57th, respectively.
It was Chan who had her score scratched in the final round, struggling as she shot a seven-over 79, dropping 20 spots on the leaderboard to finish in 50th.
With the Badgers women’s golf finishing in sixth place in the Big Ten Championship this year, the Badgers extended their top 10 finish streak to 22 straight tournaments, dating back to 2003. Furthermore, they now have nine top 6 finishes in the last 15 Big Ten Championships.
But, Badgers women’s golf is still seeking its first-ever Big Ten Championship title. Their highest ever finish is still second place, coming in 2003, when the top 10 streak first started.