As the new school year begins, Eau Claire’s men’s and women’s golf teams are preparing to start a new season. 

The women’s team finished last season as fifth overall in the WIAC Championship. This year, Anna Uzpen, a fourth-year nursing student, said her team has strong morale, though she said they will have a challenge in filling the spot of Allison Chomniak who graduated this past year.    

“I think this year’s team will continue to be stronger than last year’s,” Uzpen said. “Everyone has a very positive attitude and strong work ethic and we are very supportive of each other. We did lose one senior from last year who was a major contributor to our team scores, but I think we will have a very solid team this year.”           

The Blugolds finished second in their first tournament of the season, the Twin Ports Invite, this past weekend. Uzpen said she was happy with her team’s work ethic and perseverance throughout the tournament.   

“We knew going into the second day that we all had to improve our scores in order to have a chance at winning,” Uzpen said, “and I’m very proud of how all of the girls stepped up to the challenge and improved the second day.”

While success is important to Uzpen, she said she commended her team for the community they offer. 

“I love our team this year,” Uzpen said. “We all get along very well and it’s a great atmosphere to be a part of. Everyone looks forward to coming to practice, working hard and giving it their all at tournaments.”

The men’s golf team is also looking to improve on last year’s record of 101-28. The team did not make it to the national tournament. This year, the men’s team is looking better in terms of the number of members they have on the roster, Alex Rogan, a fourth-year accounting and finance student, said. 

“Our team’s looking a lot better this year,” Rogan said. “Last year we only had eight or nine guys the whole season, but this year we have twelve. We have a lot more guys who can contribute and put up good scores.”  

While depth is one of the team’s strengths, Rogan also said consistency would play a key role in their ability to compete with others. 

“I think being able to shoot consistent scores is one of our strengths,” Rogan said. “Last year we were kind of up and down, but I think this year’s team will be able to be more competitive through our consistency.” 

Both the men’s and women’s teams have upcoming competitions. The next tournament for the women’s team will be the Georgianni Invite on Sept. 7 at the Mill Run Golf Course, which will be the first home tournament of the season. The men will play in the Wrigglesworth Invitational on Sept. 8 at Wild Ridge Golf Course. 

Zenner can be reached at [email protected]