UW-Eau Claire’s men’s golf team tied for ninth out of 41 teams on April 4 at the Illinois Wesleyan Invitational with a score of 600 (+28). 

Darrin Skinner, the Blugold’s director of men’s and women’s golf, said the start of the season is going well. 

“When you look at the big picture, there were two teams that were ranked below us that beat us, and we beat four teams that were ranked ahead of us, so it’s just good signs of a young team that’s developing,” Skinner said. 

The team’s score was led by third-year Ryan Jamieson, who placed 23rd overall with his two rounds of 74 (+2) and 74 (+3) for a total of 148 (+5). 

First-year Drew Maglio followed him in 32nd place with 149 (+6), with third-year Spencer Lynch finishing in 48th place with 151 (+8) and second-year Luke Taebel in 66th place with 152 (+9). 

Leading up to this competition, Skinner said the weather has not been ideal, with many practices being moved inside, which is not a perfect substitute for outdoor practices. 

However, Skinner said this will not affect their next competition. 

On the day of the invitational, Jamieson said the weather was not ideal but that this is typical for their first few spring competitions. 

“I’ve been there twice now, and there’s been a tornado each time,” Jamieson said.

Compared to their fall season, the team’s placement in the top half of the competition has been consistent with other competitions outside of their 21st ranking in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Fall Preview. 

Skinner said the preview was also probably their toughest competition this year. 

“Most of those teams are in the top 30 in the country, so someone has to finish at the bottomside,” Skinner said. “But, as a whole, our team usually has been a top six team in our region every year I’ve been here, and so when we play regional tournaments, we should be competing as such.” 

Skinner said that with this being the youngest team he’s worked with, they have experienced a lot of growth. 

“Having five freshmen, there’s just a lot of growth that comes with it, learning a lot of fundamentals and growing on the golf course,” Skinner said. 

The next competition for the Blugolds will be the Bobby Krig Invitational at Gustavus Adolphus College, where the team had a top-three finish of second place out of 15 teams last year. 

“Hopefully, if we can get a high finish there, that’ll be more momentum for the spring,” Jamieson said. 

From there, the team will compete at Saint John’s University on April 25. The Blugolds did not have a competition here last year, although Saint John’s did outplace them in last year’s Illinois Wesleyan Invitational. St. John’s did not compete in this year’s invitational. 

Finally, the Blugolds will attend the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championships on April 29, where the team took first place last year.

Curtin can be reached at [email protected].