David TaintorAs the 10th-ranked UW-Eau Claire women’s golf team competed on Saturday and Sunday in their own Pre Division III Championship Invitational, they made their case for an at-large berth in the NCAA Div. III Championships.
With the sun shining and the wind lightly blowing, The Blugolds overcame a 17-stroke deficit to the second-ranked UW-Stevens Point team on Sunday. The Blugolds ended with a tournament best 328-stroke day and took first place in their weekend of competition. The invitational, held at the Wild Ridge Golf Course, was the second to be hosted by the Blugolds this season. Overall it had 11 teams with 59 individual golfers competing.Finishing the first round of play on Saturday, the Blugolds were in second place behind second-ranked UW-Stevens Point. After the first day of competition, Stevens Point led the pack with a total stroke count of 340. Eau Claire had 345 strokes while Central College (Iowa) was third with 349. Eau Claire had a second team entered and they placed sixth overall on the day with 376 strokes.
The Blugolds ended up finishing with 673 strokes, two ahead of the Pointers. Central and UW-Whitewater tied for third with 709 while Carleton College (Minn.) picked up a fifth place finish with 714 strokes. The Blugolds’ second team came in sixth place with 717 strokes.
Heading into the last day, the Blugolds individually did not have anybody place in the top 10. But freshmen Emily Swift and Lauren Gault changed all that with strong play on Sunday. Swift ended up finishing with 166 strokes to finish in fourth place while Gault closed out her day in sixth place with a score of 168. Freshmen Jamie Hauser and Emily Kerber led the second group of Blugolds as they tied for 15th place with 177 strokes.
The NCAA will announce the complete field tomorrow for the four-day championship that is set to begin May 13 in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
– The Spectator staff
