Wisconsin Badgers
BADGER INVITATIONAL
UW set to host Badger Invitational, Sept. 27-29
September 24, 2015 | Men's Golf
In seventh year, 54-hole tournament features 12 teams
Sept. 24, 2015
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MADISON, Wis. - The Wisconsin men's golf team will host the Badger Invitational, Sept. 27-29, at University Ridge. The tournament features 12 teams participating in a 54-hole stroke play format.
Joining UW are Ball State, Butler, Drake, No. 40 Illinois State, Kansas, Miami (OH), Rutgers, Texas Rio Grande Valley, USC Upstate, Western Carolina and William & Mary are included in the team event. Additionally, DePaul and Marquette will have golfers competing individually. There will be 18 individual competitors in all.
Drake (12th), Illinois State (T9th), Kansas (eighth), Rutgers (11th) and USC Upstate (third) competed in the 2014 edition of the tournament.
For the team event, golfers will be organized into threesomes to play 18 holes per day. The low four individual scores each day will determine the team score for that round.
In last year's event, Sam Houston State took the crown with a 7-over 283-293-295=871, while the 29-over Badgers (297-304-292=893) placed sixth. In fact, Wisconsin's third-round 292 was the second-best score of the day. UW finished just three strokes behind Marquette in fifth and were four shots from fourth-place Toledony.
Eddie Wajda III was the only current Badger to compete as a member of the team in 2014, as he tied for 29th with a 9-over 77-75-73=225. Playing as individuals, Matt Ross also tied for 29th with 75-75-75--225; Michael Abrahamson tied for 38th with 74-76-78--228; Johnny Decker tied for 40th with 73-79-77--229; Tommy Schofield tied for 60th with 81-76-79--243; and Ben Skogen placed 72nd with 82-82-80--244.
Skogen will play in the No. 1 position for the Badgers this go-round followed by Ross, Wajda, newcomer Brett Robinson and Schofield. Decker, Abrahmson and newcomer Jordan Hahn will play as individuals.
UW is coming off a weekend in which it placed ninth at the Fighting Irish Gridiron Classic at Warren Golf Course in Notre Dame, Indiana. Over the two-day tournament, the Badgers (295-291-288=874) improved each round to finish 22-over - one shot from Xavier in eighth and two strokes off William & Mary in seventh.
Ben Skogen was the Badgers' top performer, as the junior earned his best-ever finish, tying for second with a 3-under 71-69-70=210. He also picked up 18-, 36- and 54-hole career lows, and trailed the leader by a mere three strokes.
For the second-consecutive year, University Ridge was named the No. 3 campus course in the country by Golfweek Magazine. The Robert Trent Jones-designed links opened in 1991 and include a par-72, 7,259-yard championship course, which offers a spectacular view of the rolling terrain. It features a fairly wide-open front nine followed by an undulating back nine that contains holes cut into extremely deep woods.
Tee times begin daily at 9 a.m. off holes 1 and 10. The final round on Tuesday will be a shotgun start at 9:30 a.m. Admission and parking to the event are free.
Fans can follow live scoring at Birdiefire.com, while UWBadgers.com will have scoring summaries following each round.
Players Mentioned
