Wisconsin men’s golf qualifies for NCAA Regional
May 03, 2023 | Men's Golf
Badgers will compete at NCAA Men’s Golf Bath Regional in Michigan on May 15-17
The Badgers earned a No. 11 seed and will play at Eagle Eye Golf Club in East Lansing, Mich.
Read the full NCAA announcement here.
Wisconsin earned the spot thanks to strong play at the 2023 Big Ten Championships in Galloway, New Jersey on April 28-30 where the team finished third overall, the highest finish at the conference tournament in 27 years. Additionally, Maxime Legros was also named to the 2023 All-Big Ten Second Team on Wednesday.
"I'm just really excited. We were right on the bubble heading into Big Tens and I thought we needed to finish in the top three or four," Wisconsin head coach Mike Wilson said. "The guys took care of business and here we are going to NCAAs for the first time in 15 years."
Via the NCAA, six 54-hole regional tournaments will be conducted to determine the 30 qualifying teams and six individuals not on those qualifying teams who will compete in the finals. Thirteen teams and 10 individuals not on those teams will compete at each of three regionals while the other three regionals will have 14 teams and five individuals not on those teams. The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams will advance to the finals.
The NCAA Championship finals are May 26-31 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.
For Wilson, the qualification is also proof of the growth of the Wisconsin program the past two seasons.
"I was really excited when I got the job (here at Wisconsin)," said Wilson. "I thought we had a lot of good things in place here to create a really strong program. The guys just bought in from day one and it's been pretty impressive what they've done."
The Badgers last qualified as a team (five golfers) in 2008 when Jordan Elsen, Jeff Kaiser, Tyler Obermueller, Woltman and Danny Zimmerman qualified to the West Regional (304-290-300=894). Woltman advanced individually to the NCAA Championship that season, finishing T67th (87-71-77=230) but missed the cut.
In total, the Badgers have qualified as a team five times (1990, 1992, 1994, 2007, 2008) and advanced to the NCAA Championships as a team in two of those five seasons (1990, 1992). Wisconsin has had six individuals earn qualifications, including last season when former Badger Griffin Barela and current Badger Cameron Huss earned individual selections to the NCAA Regional in Columbus, Ohio. Huss tied for 23rd (74-69-73—216 (+3)) and Barela tied for 60th (73-76-75—224 (+11)).
The full list of NCAA qualifications all-time for Wisconsin is available below for reference.
Wisconsin All-Time NCAA Qualifications
1989–90 NCAA Central Regional
- 7th Team 296-308-299—903
- T13 Ron Wuensche 71-77-74—222
- T33 Jeff Helper 73-79-74—226
- T42 Mario Tiziani 76-76-76—228
- T54 Kim Henriksson 76-76-78—230
- T85 Craig Darling 80-81-75—236
1989–90 NCAA Championship
- 29th Team 313-309-302-297—1221
- T42 Craig Darling 74-74-72-75—295
- T96 Ron Wuensche 81-76-75-71—303
- T141 Jeff Helper 80-80-78-74—312
- T145 Kim Henriksson 78-81-77-78—314
- T153 Mario Tiziani 81-79-81-77—318
1990–91 NCAA Central Regional
- 1 Ron Wuensche 69-72-70—211
1990-91 NCAA Championship
- T137 Ron Wuensche 79-77-79-79—314
1991–92 NCAA Central Regional
- 8th Team 309-294-293—896
- T3 Jim Pejka 75-66-74—215
- T34 Mario Tiziani 77-73-74—224
- T49 Craig Darling 78-75-74—227
- T72 Ron Wuensche 79-80-71—230
- T101 Kirk Wieland 81-81-76—238
1991-92 NCAA Championship
- T16 Team 297-289—586 (missed cut)
- T15 Ron Wuensche 74-69-73-71—287
- Jim Pejka 72-73—145
- Mario Tiziani 76-72—148
- Craig Darling 80-75—155
- Kirk Wieland 75-80—155
1993–94 NCAA Central Regional
- 15th Team 291-289-297—877
- T6 Ben Walter 71-70-71—212
- T33 Jim Pejka 73-71-74—218
- T64 Kirk Wieland 75-73-74—222
- T93 Jason Fitchett 74-77-78—229
- T99 Mark Scheibach 73-75-83—231
1993-94 NCAA Championship
- Ben Walter 79-75—154 (missed cut)
2001–02 NCAA Central Regional
- T62 Jon Turcott 77-74-75—226
2006-07 NCAA Central Regional
- 12th Team 304-305-310—919
- T1 Dan Woltman 73-71-71—215
- T63 Pat Duffy 76-79-79—234
- T72 Jeff Kaiser 75-79-79—235
- T89 Tyler Obermueller 80-76-81—237
- T100 Garrett Jones 80-81-79—240
2006-07 NCAA Championship
- Dan Woltman 73-71-71—215 (missed cut)
2007-08 NCAA West Regional
- 14th Team 304-290-300—894
- T19 Tyler Obermueller 74-71-73—218
- T19 Dan Woltman 71-68-79—218
- T57 Danny Zimmerman 74-77-75—226
- T131 Jeff Kaiser 85-78-76—239
- T134 Jordan Elsen 91-74-76—241
2007-08 NCAA Championship
- T67 Dan Woltman 82-71-77—230 Missed cut
2008-09 NCAA Northeast Regional
- T67 Dan Woltman 74-69-75—218
2018-2018 NCAA Louisville (Ky.) Regional
- T35 Jordan Hahn, 71-77-70—218 (+5)
2021-22 NCAA Columbus Regional (Columbus, Ohio)
- T23 Cameron Huss 74-69-73—216 (+3)
- T60 Griffin Barela 73-76-75—224 (+11)
