University of Wisconsin Athletic Communications
MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin men’s golf team starts the 2016-17 season by welcoming 13 teams to University Ridge Golf Course to host the Badger Invitational, Sept. 11-13. In its eighth year, the tournament features a 54-hole stroke play format on the par 72, 7,259-yard course.
“We are excited to start the season at University Ridge, while hosting the best field to date since we brought back the Badger Invite in 2013,” UW head coach Michael Burcin said. “It is nice to have some much needed experience in the lineup after last year when we were inserting freshmen and sophomores every week who had played very little to no college golf.”
Joining UW are Marquette, Rutgers, Illinois State, Wofford, Nebraska, Iowa State, Butler, Drake, South Dakota, Kansas State, North Dakota State and Nevada. Additionally, Wisconsin, Marquette and Iowa State will have golfers competing individually.
Butler (fourth), USC Upstate (sixth), Drake (eighth), Illinois State (T-ninth) and Rutgers (11th) competed in the 2015 edition of the tournament.
In last year’s event, Kansas took the crown with a 1-over 283-286-296=865, while the 44-over Badgers
(302-294-312=908) placed seventh in the 12-team event. UW finished just four strokes behind USC Upstate and were nine strokes off fourth-place William & Mary.
Out of the Badgers back to compete in 2016, Eddie Wajda III paced UW last year, tying for 20th (77-74-73=224). Ben Skogen followed behind (75-73-78=226) to tie for 27th, while Tommy Schofield placed 58th with 76-75-84=235.
Playing as individuals in the 2015 tournament, Jordan Hahn finished second on the player’s leaderboard (-5, 72-68-71=211) to earn the second-lowest Badger Invitational score all-time and tie for the fourth-best University Ridge men’s collegiate mark. Michael Abrahamson tied for third (+1, 71-70-76=217) and Johnny Decker (79-73-76=228) finished tied for 33rd.
Hahn, Skogen and Wajda were recently named Big Ten preseason honorees. Those three paced the Badgers a year ago, with Wajda pacing the team with a 74.03 scoring average, Hahn checking in at 74.68 and Skogen ranking third at 74.86.
“Eddie Wajda and Ben Skogen are not only our captains, but they have been rock solid leaders in our transition from the guys we inherited to having a roster of guys we recruited,” Burcin said. “This is an opportunity for these guys to step up and take the reins leading us to a great year as the younger guys are now our leaders.”
Tee times for the first and second rounds begin daily at 9 a.m. The final round on Tuesday will be a shotgun start at 9:30 a.m.
Recently named the third-best “Campus Golf Course” in the country by Golfweek, University Ridge plays host to the American Family Insurance Championship each June. Kirk Triplett won the 2016 Champions Tour event, shooting a 17-under par score of 199.
--#Badgers--
“We are excited to start the season at University Ridge, while hosting the best field to date since we brought back the Badger Invite in 2013,” UW head coach Michael Burcin said. “It is nice to have some much needed experience in the lineup after last year when we were inserting freshmen and sophomores every week who had played very little to no college golf.”
Joining UW are Marquette, Rutgers, Illinois State, Wofford, Nebraska, Iowa State, Butler, Drake, South Dakota, Kansas State, North Dakota State and Nevada. Additionally, Wisconsin, Marquette and Iowa State will have golfers competing individually.
Butler (fourth), USC Upstate (sixth), Drake (eighth), Illinois State (T-ninth) and Rutgers (11th) competed in the 2015 edition of the tournament.
In last year’s event, Kansas took the crown with a 1-over 283-286-296=865, while the 44-over Badgers
(302-294-312=908) placed seventh in the 12-team event. UW finished just four strokes behind USC Upstate and were nine strokes off fourth-place William & Mary.
Out of the Badgers back to compete in 2016, Eddie Wajda III paced UW last year, tying for 20th (77-74-73=224). Ben Skogen followed behind (75-73-78=226) to tie for 27th, while Tommy Schofield placed 58th with 76-75-84=235.
Playing as individuals in the 2015 tournament, Jordan Hahn finished second on the player’s leaderboard (-5, 72-68-71=211) to earn the second-lowest Badger Invitational score all-time and tie for the fourth-best University Ridge men’s collegiate mark. Michael Abrahamson tied for third (+1, 71-70-76=217) and Johnny Decker (79-73-76=228) finished tied for 33rd.
Hahn, Skogen and Wajda were recently named Big Ten preseason honorees. Those three paced the Badgers a year ago, with Wajda pacing the team with a 74.03 scoring average, Hahn checking in at 74.68 and Skogen ranking third at 74.86.
“Eddie Wajda and Ben Skogen are not only our captains, but they have been rock solid leaders in our transition from the guys we inherited to having a roster of guys we recruited,” Burcin said. “This is an opportunity for these guys to step up and take the reins leading us to a great year as the younger guys are now our leaders.”
Tee times for the first and second rounds begin daily at 9 a.m. The final round on Tuesday will be a shotgun start at 9:30 a.m.
Recently named the third-best “Campus Golf Course” in the country by Golfweek, University Ridge plays host to the American Family Insurance Championship each June. Kirk Triplett won the 2016 Champions Tour event, shooting a 17-under par score of 199.
--#Badgers--