On Saturday, April 4, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse’s golf team hosted their Spring Invitational at the Golf Club at Cedar Creek.
UWL’s A and B teams battled UW-Oshkosh, UW-River Falls, UW-Eau Claire, UW-Stevens Point and Viterbo University at the one day invitational. The invitational was the first competition the Eagles have seen since the start of their spring season.
With inconsistent weather the past few weeks, UWL has been confined to practicing indoors since their return from winter break.
Although the driving nets and golf course simulators have allowed the team to get back into the swing of the sport, the Eagles were eager to get back outside and onto the course. Third-year Allison Balduzzi sat down with The Racquet Press before the Spring Invitational and shed some light on the team’s feelings heading into the weekend.
“The home course advantage will be nice because we play the course a lot and we all know our distances with our clubs…it will be a little more challenging since it’s colder out and that affects how far the ball goes so we’ll have to adjust,” Balduzzi said.
The Eagles were able to make their way to Cedar Creek on Thursday before the match to practice in the cooler weather. The pre-competition practice and home course advantage served UWL well as the A and B teams took first and second place respectively.
The Eagle’s A team finished with a team score of 343 while the B team finished with 352 strokes. UW-River Falls came in third, only two strokes behind UWL’s B team, with a final score of 354.
The Eagles took three of the top five spots with Fernanda Ossa taking third with a score of 84. UW-Stevens Point’s Katie Downie and Josie Hofer tied for first with final scores of 83. Balduzzi, Allie McBryde, Haley Thoeny and Bethany Virduk all tied for fourth place with 85 strokes.
Claire Kelbel tied for 12th place with an 88 while Lucy Nielsen tied for 18th with a 91. Kiya Bronston shot a 92 while Lauren Ambrookian finished with 94 strokes and Nora Gogin with a 95.
This spring season, the golf team’s goal is to get a little better every time they step foot on the course. One of Head Coach David Taebel’s favorite inspirational quotes, “how good is your bad,” from Tiger Woods, is a phrase the team hones in on when practicing for competition.
With three more matches scheduled for the rest of the year, the Eagles will continue refining their game, ensuring that even on their “bad” days, they stay on top. UWL returns to action April 12-13 at the Gustie Spring Invite hosted by Gustavus Adolphus College.
