In its final event before the Big Ten Championships, the Wisconsin men’s golf team shot 62-over-par (310-317-299--926) to finish 13th out of 18 teams at the Boilermaker Invitational in West Lafayette, Ind., this weekend.
Junior Chris Meyer led the Badgers, posting rounds of five-over par 77, four-over 76 and one-over 73. Meyer’s 10-over total put him in a tie for 26th individually. The junior played 54 consistent holes, making worse than bogey just once (a double-bogey 5 in his second round).
No. 43 Indiana sat in fifth place coming into Sunday, trailing leaders No. 21 Kent State and No. 25 Iowa by eight shots. However, the Hoosiers put together a tournament-low six-under 282 Sunday to win the event at 13-over-par (301-294-282--877), finishing two strokes better than the Hawkeyes.
Illinois senior Luke Guthrie fired a five-under 67 in the final round to jump six spots and win individually at three-under (72-74-67--213).
It was certainly feasible for Wisconsin to jump a few spots during Sunday’s final round. It trailed three teams by no more than 12 shots, including Toledo by just two. The Badgers’ 11-over 299 Sunday was good enough to leap frog Toledo, and they finished only two shots behind No. 34 TCU. Wisconsin was the only team that finished in the bottom half of the field to post a round under 300.
Junior Thomas Welk led Wisconsin after the first round with a four-over 76, but he then shot consecutive rounds of five-over 77 to finish at 14-over and tied for 41st individually.
Fellow junior Anthony Aicher struggled in the second round, posting a 10-over 82. However Aicher bounced back nicely Sunday, firing a one-over 73. His 16-over total (77-82-73--232) put him in a tie for 45th individually. The junior led the Badgers with seven birdies over the three rounds.
Similar to Aicher, junior Brady Keegan saved his best for Sunday. Keegan posted consecutive rounds of 10-over 82 before bouncing back with a four-over 76 to finish at 24-over-par for the event.
Sophomore John Gullberg, playing in just his third event this spring, could not improve upon his opening-round 80. He followed that eight-over-par round with scores of 88 and 92, putting him at 44-over for the tournament.
Six top-50 teams participated in the 18-team event, which also included five other Big Ten teams: Indiana, Iowa, Illinois, Purdue and Michigan State.
Wisconsin’s final tournament of the season will be held April 27-29 in French Lick, Ind., at the 72-hole Big Ten Championships.
UWBadgers.com contributed to this report.
