The UW-Eau Claire men’s golf team shot well in the season opener in Lexington Ky. with a top 5 finish at the Transylvania Fall Invitational.

Tim McCormick, Ben Brooks, Jake Erickson, Andrew Schmidt and Drew DeSormeau represented the team in Lexington on September 8 and 9.

“It was a good start for us, I think we made 290s which is solid for us,” said McCormick, one of only two seniors on the team.

McCormick, who tied for ninth with 143 strokes at this weekend’s tournament, added that freshmen Schmidt and DeSormeau were able to step up to the plate pretty well for the team.
With a new coach and lots of young players, the team is very fresh. The team lost a lot of players from last year, and there are now five freshmen on the team.

This is the first fall season as head coach for Mike Greer, who was named eighth coach in the history of the program in February.

Brooks, the other senior on the team, said he is feeling pretty confident this year despite the lack of experience.

“We are all good solid players,” he said.

The team does not have a conference, but neighboring school UW-Stout is a big rival of their’s. The Blugolds will be hosting the Frank Wrigglesworth Blugold Collegiate Invitational later this month and Stout’s Blue Devils will be participating.
The Blugolds have high expectations for themselves this season and want to do well in the tournaments.

“Our team goal is to get to nationals. That’s our goal just about every year. We want to play well and see if we can make it there,” McCormick said.

The Blugolds will be back on the green this weekend at the Saint John’s Fall Invitational in Minnesota.