A little snow and cold can't stop the Wisconsin women's golf team from starting its season this upcoming weekend. Instead, the Badgers will head to Puerto Rico to participate in what should be a very competitive Lady Puerto Rico Classic.
This will mark the second time the Badgers have hit the road this year, as earlier this month, the frequent-flying Badgers traveled to Arizona and defeated Minnesota in the annual Wisconsin-Minnesota Cup.
The Badgers will look to build on that success as they begin the tournament portion of their schedule. To do so will require the Badgers to be in top form early in the season, as the Lady Puerto Rico Classic boasts a field with five teams in the National Golf Coaches Association Top 25 poll, including Lady Puerto Rico Classic host No. 3 Purdue.
"With a field like that, we will definitely have to be on our game [to compete], but I don't think that should be a problem," UW head coach Todd Oehrlein said. "We've had a good week of preparation, and we feel good with what we've been working on in the offseason. Our swings are in good shape, and if we get the short game going, we should be fine."
Oehrlein added the team has been practicing daily at the Golf Dome near its home course, University Ridge, as well as in the Kohl Center, where the team has a practice putting green. All the practice indoors on mats, however, cannot completely offer the full experience of actual conditions.
"If I have any concerns, it would be that it is really hard — if not impossible — to replicate hitting off grass and getting the feel for the short game," Oehrlein explained.
If the Badgers are to have a successful weekend, they will need continued solid play from several underclassmen. Freshmen Jeana Dahl and Isabel Alvarez, along with sophomores Katie Elliott and Carissa Werlinger, figure to be key contributors throughout the season.
Oehrlein has been most impressed by the freshman duo.
"What [Dahl and Alvarez] have been able to accomplish already is unbelievable," Oehrlein said. "For Jeana to come in as a freshman and lead the team in scoring, and [for] Isabel to adjust to school and also contribute to the team as well as she has, is very impressive."
Dahl, a true freshman from Fargo, N.D., established herself as one of the Badgers' best golfers this fall after posting a team-best scoring average of 76.9 in 15 rounds.
Alvarez comes to the Badgers from Gijon, Spain, where she played for two years as a member of the Spanish national team. After much international competition, she fired a 75 in her first collegiate round and a 76 in the Wisconsin-Minnesota Cup, signaling her arrival to the collegiate golf scene.
Elliott posted a personal-best 70 in the Wisconsin-Minnesota Cup and registered the team's second-best scoring average last year. Werlinger returns to action this year after taking a redshirt '04-'05 season.
The young Badgers will look to the team's only two seniors, Jackie Obermueller and Lindsay McMillan, to provide leadership on top of critical scores. Oehrlein feels the team is in good hands.
"Jackie and Lindsay lead by example, which really helps the team come together," the coach said.
Obermueller and McMillan are also the only two Badgers to have played in the Lady Puerto Rico Classic before, having played as freshmen in 2003, the last time Wisconsin made the trip to the tournament. There will be no course familiarity, however, as the tournament is being played at a different site this year.
"We don't know a lot about the course," Oehrlein said. "We will play a practice round and then develop a plan of attack."
Cocoa Beach Golf Club is a Tom Kite-designed course, which plays to 6,000 yards and a par 72.
