The UW Oshkosh golf team completed its season by finishing fifth out of eight teams at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) championship on Oct. 10 at the Reedsburg Country Club.

The rankings of all WIAC teams, with their respective stroke amounts, from the weekend-long championship are UW-Whitewater 958 (+94), UW-La Crosse 969 (+105), UW-Eau Claire 976 (+112), UW-Stout 988 (+124), UW Oshkosh 992 (+128), UW-Platteville 1,051 (+187), UW-River Falls 1,057 (+193) and UW-Stevens Point 1,057 (+193).

Erika Priebe, who finished sixth overall in the WIAC championship with a three- round score of 239 (+23), said she took great pride in how she and the rest of the UWO golf team competed in Reedsburg.

“I was very proud of my team and how they all played at the WIAC championship,” Priebe said. “We had our low round of the year the first day, which was a big accomplishment for all of us.” She also said she was happy with how she played that weekend.

Kaylee Sadowski, who finished 60th in the field with a three-round score of 294 (+78), said that the team beat out expectations this year. She also said that there is room for improvement with her own golf game.

“There’s always room for improvement, but I say overall at the WIAC championship our team exceeded expectations,” Sadowski said. “From my own individual experience I have room to grow and it was a great opportunity to compete in such a high-level conference.”

While intangibles such as swing mechanics and fundamentals are important, Priebe took this year, her fourth as a member of the team, to focus on her mental approach to the game. She said she stressed the importance of it from the beginning of the year until the team’s last meet at Reedsburg.

“The biggest thing I had to work on was my mental game. I feel like that is something I really improved on from the start of the season until conference,” she said.

Sadowski, who just completed her first season as a member of the UWO golf team, said she focused on overall course management and playing to the conditions this year. She stated that this was the component of her game that she improved upon the most.

“One component that drastically improved and changed my golf game this year was how to manage the overall course,” she said. “Coming into college golf was a whole new level of competition and golf courses.”

As Priebe wraps up her collegiate golfing career, she said the team was enjoyable to practice and travel with, and she said the supportiveness between each teammate was evident.

“We have a great time at practice and traveling with each other. Everyone is very supportive of each other,” Priebe said.

Among UWO’s season highlights are a win over 15 teams at the UW Oshkosh Titan Fall Classic on Sept. 5, a third-place finish out of 10 teams at the UW-La Crosse Invitational on Sept. 11 and a fifth-place finish out of 10 teams at the Viterbo University V-Hawk Invitational.

With the transition into the offseason being upon the UWO golf team, Sadowski said the team will be looking to improve its game with a hunger to succeed that will carry them into next year.

“One word I would utilize to describe this golf team is ambitious,” Sadowski said. “We are constantly showing a strong desire and determination to succeed and improve in the game of golf.”