Women's Golf Looks Back on 2007-08 Season
April 30, 2008 | Women's Golf
The University of Wisconsin women's golf team wrapped up competition for the 2007-08 season last weekend at the 2008 Big Ten Championships in University Park, Pa. The Badgers had a successful season as they had additions to seven different records, finished the regular season with back-to-back fifth place finishes and had the best finish at Big Tens since 2004.
Last year, Wisconsin set a new school record for 18-hole scoring average (309.73) and it broke the record again this year with a 308.37 average. The Badgers also had the second best mark in school history for 18 holes with their 292 in the second round of the Big Ten Championships.
The Badgers will say goodbye to one senior and that is Madison native, Katie Elliott. She finished her final year at Wisconsin with a 76.7 scoring average and leaves her mark in the UW record books with her 77.1 career scoring average, which is the second best of any UW women 's golfer. Elliott led the Badgers in scoring average for the last three seasons and leaves the UW with two individual titles. Earlier in the fall, Elliott won the Hawkeye Invite by tallying a career best score of 217. Elliott was recently named Wisconsin 's recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award and she was a Second Team All-Big Ten member in 2007.
Two Badger underclassmen helped carry the team in the spring. Freshman Carly Werwie and sophomore Kelsey Verbeten led Wisconsin in its final five invites. Verbeten got things started at the Rio Verde Collegiate Invite from March 7-9 when she had career bests in her score for three rounds (226) and finish (14th). The Green Bay, Wis., native led the Badgers again at the following competition which came at the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invite from March 17-19.
Werwie then took over at the Susie Maxwell Berning Classic and also recorded a career best score of 225. The Kenosha, Wis., native then had the best finish of her young career when she tied for eighth at the Lady Buckeye Invite. Finally, Werwie led the six Badger competitors at the 2008 Big Ten Championships and she had one of the best scores for any UW golfer with a 302. That score ranks as fifth-best in UW history for 72-holes.
Werwie and Verbeten had the two best scoring averages on the team after Elliott. Werwie finished with the second best average at 77.5 and Verbeten was close behind with a 77.6.
Juniors Jeana Dahl and Natasha Lopez also played consistently for Wisconsin throughout the season. Dahl (Fargo, N.D.) played in all 32 rounds for UW and finished with a 79.5 scoring average, including a season low of 228 at the Rio Verde Invitational.
Lopez (Asuncion, Paraguay) completed her first season at the UW and had a 78.0 scoring average. The junior transfer competed in all but one competition for Wisconsin. Her best scores of the season came at the Wolverine Invite in the fall when she tallied a 225 and finished sixth.
A complete list of all the records UW broke this season can be found in the final women's golf release .
