Although the team was unable to play on Saturday because of heavy rain and low temperatures, the UW-Eau Claire women’s golf team tied for third place out of 20 teams at the 2011 Illinois Wesleyan University Spring Fling on Sunday.

The Blugolds, who are ranked fourth in the nation, recorded 320 strokes to tie DePauw University (Ind.), the nation’s second-ranked team. North Central College (Ill.) won with 315 strokes while William Woods University (Mo.) was second with 319.

“I think overall the team played well on the second day,” said junior Sara Mattes. “We knew that we needed to play well and finish strong, since we only had the one round.”

Sophomore Catherine Wagner said that the course was much bigger and many people attended as compared to the last tournament. Matters agreed with Wagner and said the course brought a challenge to the teams.

“The course in general was pretty open and had fast greens that can be hard to putt on,” Mattes said, “especially if you are not used to working with fast greens, which I think was the biggest struggle for a lot of people.”

Individually, Mattes led the Blugolds, tying for fourth place with 77 strokes, while Wagner finished in 10th place with 79 strokes. Juniors Katie Maurer and Emily Swift were part of an 11-way tie for 24th place after shooting 82 strokes.

“I worked a lot on my short game, so I improved quite a bit, which I think made me score pretty low,” Mattes said.

Although Wagner also thinks the team played well, she thought they had too many high shots.

“I know that the girls who shot a little higher can do a lot better,” she said. “I think we all need to work on our short games.”

Mattes also said the team needs to practice short games and be able to make putts and give themselves chances for birdies.

Wagner said she has higher expectations for the last two tournaments before nationals that start in May. She hopes the Blugolds to finish in the top three if not win both tournaments, she said.

Mattes agreed and added that the team will keep practicing hard until then.

“I just hope that we can do the best that we can to win and get ready for nationals,” Mattes said. “I think that’s a lot what the next tournaments are, just preparing (and ) getting golf in before we head down to nationals.”

The Blugolds will compete at the Carleton College Spring Invitational in Northfield, Minn., this Friday and Saturday.