For the UW-Eau Claire women’s golf team, the preparation for the 2009 season was a bit unusual. Sophomore Katie Maurer said the team played quite a few times before the start of the season in order to get better and more used to course management, along with getting used to competing with other people.

The preparation paid off over the weekend as the Blugolds took second in the Doug Georgianni Memorial Blugold Invite. The team finished behind Gustavus Adolphus, ranked No. 2 nationally, while Maurer finished two strokes ahead of her competition to earn individual honors as the Invite’s top scorer.

“All the girls put in a lot of hard work this year,” Maurer said. “Last year we were all freshman and we came in and didn’t know what was going on and it was hard to get into things as quickly . this year . we knew what we were doing quicker.”

At the end of the first day of action held at the Mill Run Golf Course, the team was in second place in the field of 21 with a stroke count of 313. The Blugolds were close behind first place leader Gustavus Adolphus, who scored 306 on the day. The UW-Eau Claire Gold team sat in third place behind the Blugolds’ first team with a score of 320.

On the individual side of the event, Gustavus Adolphus’ Kali Griggs led with a score of 73. The Blugolds’ top golfer on the first day of the event was Maurer, who ended the day tied for third place individually with a score of 77. Tied for fifth place individually was the Blugolds’ sophomore Sara Mattes, who finished one stroke behind Maurer.

The second day of the tournament was held at the Wild Ridge Golf Course. The Blugolds ended the tournament exactly where they finished day one, in second place, and finished with a stroke count of 633. The Blugolds’ second team also performed well at the invite and finished third overall. Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) won the tournament with a stroke count of 630. The Gusties also won the tournament last season.

Maurer finished the tournament two strokes better than the rest of the field with a stroke count of 151. She took home individual medalist honors for her efforts, finishing the tournament with a tie with Stevens Point’s Jessica Urban, with the second round’s top score of 74.

Freshman Catherine Wagner was second on the team with 158 strokes, taking sixth place overall, while senior Torie Ives finished with 165 and tied for 15th. Sophomores Sara Mattes and Emily Swift tied for 17th with 166 strokes.

Leading the Blugolds’ second team were sophomores Jamie Hauser and Maggie Lattery. Both finished with +17 scores of 162 and tied for ninth overall.

Next Saturday a number of the Blugolds will compete in a JV Tournament hosted by Viterbo University in La Crosse. On Sunday and Monday, others will compete in the O’Brien DIII Fall Championship in Notre Dame, Ind. Maurer said the Championship will be one of the more important tournaments the Blugolds will participate in, as the competition consists of a large number of top ranked teams.

“I honestly think we can (win) . and at least place in the top three,” Maurer said.