The UW Oshkosh women’s golf team shot their way to a second-place finish at the UW-Whitewater Fall Invite last weekend.

The team placed four golfers in the top 10 and finished the two-day event 10 strokes behind Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foe UW-Whitewater.

Senior Kayla Priebe led the Titans, shooting a 76 and 78 on day one and day two of the invite, good enough for second place in the individual standings.
Priebe said having a good weekend at The Oaks Golf Course has given her confidence moving forward.

“Finishing second this weekend by having two good rounds gives me a lot of confidence for the next two weeks,” Kayla said. “I continue to refine my game each week of the season through our practices that cover all areas of the game. I still had shots left out on the course from some missed short putts, so I will be focusing on my putting this week while continuing to maintain or improve the other areas of my game as well.”

Kayla said the second-place team finish also helped their overall confidence.

“Our team’s finish this weekend gives us a lot of momentum for the next two weeks leading up to conference,” Kayla said. “Having four individuals in the top ten is a very strong showing for our team, and I’m proud of all those girls for pushing through some struggles this weekend to still finish well.

Freshman Erika Priebe followed up her sister by posting a fifth-place finish for the Titans with scores of 81 and 79 on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

Erika said hitting hard and sinking difficult putts helped her to place in the top five.

“This weekend I feel like I was hitting the ball really well, especially my driver,” Erika said. “I also made some nice putts to save par. The course was pretty difficult, so keeping the ball in play was also very important.”

UWO junior Hannah Braun and freshman Margherite Pettenuzzo both cracked the top 10 with eighth- and ninth-place finishes, respectively.
Head coach Liza Ruetten said she was happy with the confidence the team displayed on the weekend.

“Confidence is always key in the game of golf,” Ruetten said. “Ball striking and short game will be more consistent when a player feels confident.”
Ruetten said making sure each golfer is reaching their individual goals is essential for the team’s success.

“Each player knows what they are capable of shooting and each player knows they have a teammate who is also capable of going low,” Ruetten said. “The key to winning for the team is to have four of the five reaching their individual goals and ideally all five. If each hits their individual goals, the team will come out on top.”

Kayla said the team has some time to improve before the WIAC conference and needs to keep improving.

“We are improving each week, and now we have two more weeks to work out the final kinks before hopefully playing our best golf of the season at conference,” Kayla said.

The Titans travel to UW-Stevens Point for the Mad Dawg Invitational this weekend before heading to Reedsburg for the WIAC championship next weekend.