The University of Wisconsin Badgers men’s golf opened up the year in Independence, Minn, at the 2nd Swing Gopher Invitational, hosted by the University of Minnesota, from Sept. 7-8. The Badgers struggled to get it going in their first event of the year, as they posted a team score of 19-over par – an eleventh place finish (out of 15 schools), while the winners, Texas A&M, posted a team score of even par.
The Badgers were led by junior James Boustead, who posted a career best three-under par 68 in round two, coming off a one-under round of 70 in the first round. Sophomore William Harned, whom head coach Mike Wilson spoke about in the preseason, finished the first two rounds at two over, after a pair of one-over rounds. Boustead found himself in a tie for third, while Harned sat at 34th.
Seniors Jacob Beckman and Spencer Turtz both finished the first two rounds at six-over par, placing them just inside the top 50 at 49th. Beckman put together back to back rounds of three over, while Turtz started strong with a two-over round of 73, followed by a four-over round of 75.
The last Badger to make the lineup was sophomore standout Charles Erlandson, who, like Turtz, opened strong with a 73, but followed it up with a five-over round of 76. Erlandson found himself tied for 58th after the first two rounds.
As a team, the Badgers sat in eighth out of fifteen participating teams after day one.
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The third and final round continued to be a struggle for Wisconsin, as they fell three spots into an 11th-place finish.
Boustead, who was stellar all week, started his third round four over through his first three holes. But, he clawed his way back, finishing bogey free through the last fifteen, with a birdie on hole ten. This three-over round, and one-under tournament score, was good enough to finish ninth on the player’s leaderboard, the first top-ten finish of Boustead’s career
Beckman finished his week four-over par, off the back of a great final round, where he fired a bogey-free round of 69, two-under par. This vaulted Beckman 29 spots up on the player’s leaderboard, starting his year off with a top 25 in a tie for 20th.
Harned holed two birdies while dropping three bogeys and one double bogey on his way to another round of 74 and a tournament score of seven-over par. He held steady on the player’s leaderboard, staying within the top 40 with a 38th place finish.
Turtz and Erlandson both turned in scorecards of four over in their final rounds- Turtz holing one birdie while Erlandson holed three. Turtz finished the event ten over, falling to a 54th place finish. Erlandson, on the other hand, finished the event eleven over, climbing up to a 56th place finish.
While it wasn’t the start the Badgers hoped for, there are a few positives to take away too. Boustead had his best tournament as a college golfer, notching a total of ten birdies across three rounds, while every other Badger had at least five. Erlandson ranked second with seven and Harned finished last with five.
Every Badger fought hard, overcoming tough holes and slow starts to post a respectable score. While the final placement was eleventh, the difference between 13th and a top five finish was only eight shots – telling the story of just how close and hard fought the week turned out.
The Badgers will next find themselves back in Madison, Wisc., for the Badger Invitational. This year, the men will host the annual tournament at TPC Wisconsin, instead of University Ridge. TPC Wisconsin is the host of the annual American Family Championship, a tournament on the PGA Tour Champions schedule.