Men's golf opens 2008-09 season in San Francisco
September 08, 2008 | Men's Golf
The 61st-ranked University of Wisconsin men's golf team kicks off its 2008-09 season today as it participates in the USF Olympic Club Intercollegiate at the Olympic Club Lake Course in San Francisco, Calif. The tournament will be a two-day event with 36 holes being played today and the final 18 taking place tomorrow.
The 14-team field features 10 teams currently ranked in the Top-100 of the Golfweek/Sagarin Poll. UAB is the top-ranked team at No. 27, while Oregon State (43rd), California (45th), Saint Mary's (57th), Colorado (66th), Notre Dame (74th), San Diego (75th), Santa Clara (94th) and Nevada (98th) round out the ranked teams.
The Badgers return all but one member from last year's team that finished 14th at the NCAA West Regional, including senior Dan Woltman (Beaver Dam, Wis.) who led the team in scoring average at 73.97. In addition to leading the team in that category, Woltman became the first player in school history to qualify for the NCAA Championships in consecutive seasons. He ultimately finished in a tie for 67th place last season as he shot a 230 (82-71-77).
Including Woltman, the top four leaders in scoring average return from last season 's squad. Senior Dan Zimmerman (Middleton, Wis.) was second with a mark of 74.24, while fellow senior Tyler Obermueller (River Falls, Wis.) was third at 74.84 and junior Jordan Elsen (Kenosha, Wis.) was fourth with an average of 76.61.
Woltman and Zimmerman each finished in a tie for first in a tournament last season. Woltman did it at the Prestige at PGA West by shooting a 208 (70-69-69), while Zimmerman earned his tie at the Minnesota Invitational by shooting a 215 (66-70-79).
As a team, the Badgers competed in 11 events last year and finished eighth or better in 10 of them. The team's best finish came at the VCU Shootout when it took second out of 12 teams.
Tee times for the USF Intercollegiate at the Olympic Club will begin at 10 a.m. (CT) today and at the same time on Tuesday. Live stats can be found by clicking tournament_id=1326"> --> here and a full recap can be found by checking back to UWBadgers.com.
