From April 14-15, the Badgers teed up at the Ford Collegiate, hosted by Georgia Southern, for their final tournament of the regular season. The field for this event was incredibly strong, including No. 1 Auburn, No. 2 Texas and No. 7 LSU, along with five other schools within the top 30 in the nation.
The Badgers were coming off poor form at the Mason Rudolph, finishing 13 out of 14, and looked to bounce back strongly. The Badgers’ lineup consisted of freshmen William Harned and Charles Erlandson, juniors Spencer Turtz and Jacob Beckman and senior Graham Moody. Senior Evan Myers also competed as an individual in this event.
An 11-over team performance after the first round had the Badgers in 10th out of 12 teams competing. It was Beckman who turned in the low score of the first round with an even-par 70. Erlandson and Moody also chipped in solid rounds of 73, three over par. Harned was the last player whose score counted, as he shot a 75, five-over par. Turtz had his score scratched at 11 over, while Myers carded a 74 as an individual.
The second round wasn’t much stronger, as the Badgers went fifteen over as a team, led by a low score of 70, even par, shot by Erlandson. Beckman turned in a four-over, 74, which was matched by Turtz, a strong bounce back after his tough first round.
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Harned and Moody both shot seven over, 77, so it’s arbitrary as to whose score was technically scratched. The individual, Myers, turned in another solid round of 75, five over.
In true fashion, the Badgers, like the last event, had an incredible final round after two tough first rounds. The Badgers played the third round in two under, enough to net them a ninth-place finish, out of 12 teams. The two freshmen tore it up in this third round, as Harned went three under, and Erlandson went two under par. Beckman also turned in an even par 70. Moody went three over, while Turtz had his score scratched at a rough thirteen over.. Myers played his final round seven over.
Erlandson strung together several impressive rounds, finishing the tournament one over par and in 11th, just outside a top-ten finish. Beckman (four over), who carded two even-par rounds, climbed 14 spots to finish in 19th. Harned (nine over), with his three under final round, climbed 24 spots to finish 39th.
Moody (13 over), Turtz (31 over) and Myers (16 over) all struggled to string together multiple good rounds, all finishing outside the top 50. Turtz alone carded 10 double bogeys or worse across all three rounds.
The Badgers’ final round of the regular season was good, but the actual team placements in the last few tournaments have been relatively mediocre. In all fairness, the Badgers have been competing against some of the best golf programs in the nation, event after event, so these tournaments have been nothing short of a strong challenge.
But, the Badgers finished the regular season without a single top-five team finish, their best being sixth out of 15 teams back at the Seminole Intercollegiate.
Up next is the Big Ten Men’s Golf Championship in Baltimore, Md. It takes place over April 25-27, so the Badgers have a week to get ready to go and shock some people on the biggest stage of the season.