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3-9-09
MONDAY ROUND-UP
Behind top-five finishes for junior Kelsey Verbeten and sophomore Carly Werwie, the Wisconsin women’s golf team earned a share of sixth place Sunday at the 20-team Duramed Collegiate Invitational in Rio Verde, Ariz. UW was the only team to place a pair of golfers in the top five.
“Kelsey and Carly played very consistently throughout the weekend,” head coach Todd Oehrlein said. “It was great to see them both finish in the top five.”
Verbeten shot her best round of the tournament, carding a 1-over par 72 on Sunday. That gave her a 7-over par total of 220 (75-73-72), two shots behind individual champion Meghan Gockel of Kansas, who defeated Arkansas-Little Rock’s Sara Wikstrom on the first hole of a playoff.
Verbeten started her round with a bogey on the seventh hole but bounced back with two birdies on her next four holes to get to 1-under for the day and 5-under for the tournament. However, bogeys on Nos. 1 and 16 dropped her to 1-over par on the day. She finished with five straight pars and tied for third place – her best individual finish as a Badger – with Boram Lee of Toledo.
Werwie started the day in a tie for second place and was even-par and 5-over through 14 holes on Sunday. However, she played her final four holes at 5-over, dropping her to 10-over 223 (75-72-76). She finished in a four-way tie for fifth place. Like Verbeten, Werwie’s finish was her best as a Badger.
After shooting a 315 as a team in the first round, Wisconsin bounced back to post rounds of 300 and 303. The Badgers’ total of 918 was the team’s lowest since winning the Badger Invitational on Sept. 28, 2009, with a score of 902. UW finished 35 shots back of first-place Kansas but just 11 shots back of second-place Arkansas-Little Rock.
Junior Molly Schemm was the Badgers’ third finisher, shooting a 79 on Sunday and finishing in a tie for 51st place with a total of 236 (73-74-79). Rounding out the Badger five were freshman Jessie Gerry and junior Heather Herrick. Both golfers had their best rounds of the tournament on Sunday, Gerry shooting a
79 and Herrick a 76. Gerry finished in a tie for 73rd at 29-over 242 (82-81-79) while Herrick’s total 244 (87-81-76) put her in a tie for 81st.
The Badger women play again March 23-24 at the Oregon Duck Invitational at Shadow Hills GC in Eugene, Oregon.
Mike Van Sickle’s bid to win his third straight Ron Smith USF Invitational title came up short Sunday, as did Marquette University’s bid to claim its first team title of the 2008-09 golf season. Van Sickle finished in third place, while the Golden Eagles settled for sixth at the par-72 Lake Jovita G&CC in Dade City, Fla.
Van Sickle posted the squad’s lone sub-par round – a 1-under 71 – on the final day of the 54-hole event. The senior carded his tournament-leading second eagle of the weekend on the second hole before a triple bogey on the par-4 No. 3 put him at 1-over.
Van Sickle had three birdies on the back nine, but his final score of 6-under 210 (70-69-71) wasn’t enough to catch co-medalists Santiago Rivas of Texas Tech and Florida Southern’s Matt Stauch, who each finished at 9-under 207.
Sophomore Ben Sieg shot even-par Sunday to end at 219 (75-71-72), one stroke behind Kelly Kretz, who tied for 34th place with a 218 (67-75-76) after posting a team-low round of 67 on Friday.
Marquette led by one stroke heading into Sunday’s final round of play, but a 6-over 294 on the final 18 holes cost MU five spots in the team standings. Texas Tech and Florida Southern shared the team trophy with a score of 858. Middle Tennessee State (861), Louisville (862) and Baylor (863) rounded out the top-five.
Next up for the Golden Eagles is the Pinehurst Intercollegiate, March 15-17, at the Pinehurst No. 8 course in Pinehurst, N.C.
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