The UW-Eau Claire women’s golf team placed sixth out of eight teams that took part in competing in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships at the Reedsburg Country Club. This past weekend’s performance marked a one-place improvement for the Blugolds from last year’s performance at the championships.
The Blugolds began Friday’s round of play with two golfers placing in the top 25 with second-year Elizabeth Hermann sitting in a tie for 18th place after shooting an 83 and second-year Lilly Kaminski following close behind in a tie for 25th with a score of 84 for the round.
The second round on Saturday was a day of improvement for the Blugolds as they showed a 14-stroke improvement from Friday’s round with a total team score for Saturday coming out to 334. Saturday’s score also helped move them up to sixth place overall as a team.
Saturday’s round of golf proved to be a high point for the Blugolds as they persevered through 35-mile-per-hour winds on the course throughout the afternoon. For second-year Lydia Jensen, she said it was all about staying cool under pressure given the conditions.
“With the wind gusting up to 35 miles per hour, I really focused on staying low with my shots and being patient, which helped me stay composed as the wind intensified,” Jensen said. “It’s all about adapting and staying positive even when conditions aren’t ideal.”
On Saturday, Jensen and Kaminski’s efforts played a role in the Blugolds moving up the team rankings. Kaminski would climb up into a tie for 13th place after scoring an 80 and Jensen would be tied for 59th place after scoring an 88 for the round.
Assistant coach Jeff Walk said he was very pleased with how his golfers improved on Saturday, attributing it to the golfers playing a smart, focused game along with having some familiarity with playing at this course previously.
“We played a lot smarter and stayed away from troubles on the course,” Walk said. “We played a practice round at this course back in August and made sure we didn’t take a ton of risk in our shot selections when we came back to this course.”
Sunday’s final round of golf would be more of the same consistency from the top two Blugold golfers Kaminski and Hermann, who would finish 16th and 25th place respectively. It would also mark a great day for fourth-year Olivia McSorely, who would score a team-best 81 for the day and climb into a tie for 28th on the overall leaderboard.
For Walk, the greatest area of improvement that he’s seen from the golfers compared to the beginning of the season is the bonding of players on the team and seeing a positive culture generated for the team.
“We strive to have a family-like atmosphere and the aspect that we’re all in this together as a team is very important to us,” Walk said. “Although scores of the players are calculated individually, our team is very supportive of one another and they help each other develop strengths in their game.”
Sunday’s match in the WIAC Championship marked the end of the fall season for the Blugolds. There will be a bit of a layoff for the team before the spring season kicks off, giving the team time to work on improving their game overall.
For Jensen, she plans on working on her fitness and prevention of injury along with continuing to build team chemistry in the offseason workout program.
“In the gap between the fall and spring seasons, I plan to work on my overall fitness and flexibility. I think this will not only enhance my performance but also help prevent injuries,” Jensen said. “As a team, we’re focused on maintaining our momentum and continuing to build our chemistry together in the weight room this winter.”
The Blugolds will be preparing through the winter to get ready for the spring golf season as they await for the schedule release for the spring season.
Mikalofsky can be reached at [email protected].
