The University of Wisconsin men’s golf team hosted their annual Badger Invitational from Sept. 22 to 23 at TPC Wisconsin — instead of the ordinary University Ridge. The Badgers finished in 11th out of 14 teams, posting a three round score of 21-over par. The winners, Southern Mississippi, finished the tournament 23-under par. The Badgers had no one finish within the top 25.
The Badgers had a solid start in round one. Senior Spencer Turtz and junior James Boustead both shot one over, holing two and four birdies, respectively. Sophomore Charles Erlandson also turned in a strong round of two over. Fellow sophomore William Harned had a three-over first round, and senior Jacob Beckman was scratched with a round of four over.
Three additional Badgers got to tee it up — as individuals — for the home event. This included true freshman Vijay Kumar, who shot a pair of 39s on each nine, going six over on the first day. Senior McCord Grice followed Kumar’s lead, also turning in a score of six over. Lastly, for the individuals, sophomore Drew Sacia turned in the high round of the day, at seven over.
The second round took place the same day, Sept. 22. Harned responded with a strong second round, shooting three under on the second nine and holing five total birdies on his way to a round of two-under par. Beckman also had a nice follow up, responding with an even-par round after being scratched round one.
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Turtz fired a one-birdie round of one over and Erlandson went three over in their respective second rounds. Boustead was scratched, as he finished with a round of four over.
For the individuals, Kumar and Grice matched each other once more, both turning in strong performances of even par. Kumar holed an electric six birdies in the second round. While Grice, on the other hand, holed four. Sacia fought hard, holing three birdies en route to a round of three over.
The Badgers sat in a solid spot after day one, with an outside chance of moving into a decent finish. But, the third round did not treat the Badgers well.
Turtz and Erlandson continued their rock-solid tournaments with rounds of one over. This moved Turtz up three spots on the final day, as he cracked the top 30 with a 29th place finish. Erlandson, however, moved up 10 spots, finishing 47th.
Harned and Beckman struggled big time, both going five over on the final day, plummeting down the leaderboard. Harned dropped 26 spots, going from inside the top 25, at 21st, down to a 46th place finish. Beckman also dropped 16 spots, finishing in 62nd.
Boustead had his score scratched for a second straight round, as he finished six over, falling 11 spots and finishing 68th.
Grice posted the high score of the day with a round of seven over, moving down 17 spots — finishing in 77th. Sacia had a nice finish, as he holed four birdies and finished one over. This moved him up six spots, as he finished in 73rd.
The true freshman, Kumar, had an absolutely stellar final round. He posted the best score of the week, a three-birdie, bogey-free round of three under. He skyrocketed up the leaderboard, moving up 31 spots. He finished in 29th, tying Turtz for the best finish by a Badger this week and the second best finish out of all the individuals in the field.
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It wasn’t the week the Badger hoped for, especially at a home tournament. An 11th place finish is nothing to be excited about.
But, what the Badgers can be excited about is Vijay Kumar. So far, he has lived up to everything the Badgers hoped for, showing off his ability to shoot low scores. He averaged over three birdies a round over the whole tournament — the best of any Badger this week.
Unfortunately, no Badgers in the lineup were able to string together several strong rounds, which prevented the team from moving up the team leaderboard. Despite this, however, the Badgers have already shown they have the ability to do that in the past.
They’re next chance to do so will be at the Marquette Intercollegiate — hosted by Marquette — from Oct. 5 to 7, which is just up the road at the host of the LPGA’s 2025 U.S. Women’s Open Championship at the Erin Hills.