In the game of golf, there are many factors that can affect a player's performance on any given day — the course and its difficulty, the competition and the weather, among other things.
As a member of a collegiate team, another factor is the presence of teammates. For the University of Wisconsin men's golf team, Dan Woltman has had a positive impact this season.
Woltman, a sophomore transfer from Kentucky, has immediately asserted himself within Wisconsin's lineup. So far this season, Woltman is second on the team with a scoring average of 72.96.
However, it's no big surprise Woltman has become comfortable so quickly with UW's team. After all, he had already played with many of the members prior to this season.
"I just talked to some of the guys up here, and we've been playing golf together for about 10 years," Woltman said. "I wanted to come back and represent my home university, and I'm glad I made the change."
And since Woltman's arrival this season, the Badgers have enjoyed much success. Wisconsin began the fall season with a pair of team victories followed by an individual title for Woltman. The individual victory was the first in school history since Joel Rechlicz in 2003.
The Badgers continued their strong play through the rest of the fall season as they finished fifth or better in every tournament.
In the spring season, the Badgers have been consistently ranked among the top 40 teams in the nation and continue to play well with three top-five finishes.
Among those three is a fifth-place finish at this weekend's Big Ten championships, Wisconsin's best since taking fourth-place in 1999. Wisconsin's only finishes out of the top five came in the first two weeks of April at weather-shortened events.
With the addition of Woltman's strong play, the Badgers have been able to consistently finish higher this season than in the past. Last season, Wisconsin had an average finish of 9.5 in 14 tournaments. This year, the Badgers have finished with an average of 4.5 through 10 tournaments.
Another significant improvement for the Badgers this season has been the team stroke average. With an average of 292.50 heading into the weekend, the team is on pace to break the previous mark of 293.22 set in 2004-05.
While Woltman's addition has helped, one of the distinguishing characteristics of the Wisconsin men this year has been the fact that their success has been a true team effort.
"If you take a look at the scores, we're a team that is pretty consistent from players one through five," head coach Jim Schuman said.
This team effort can be seen in the fact that each of the Badgers' top-five golfers has had at least one top-10 finish this season, and four of the five have finished in second place or higher.
Depending on who gets selected to the 27-team field as the NCAA Central Regionals at Rich Harvest Farms Golf Course in Sugar Grove, Ill., UW's season could be over.
However, given the program's success this season, and the fact that the Badgers are in the upper half of the 45 schools in the region, they will likely have another opportunity to play this season. If that's the case, it will be Wisconsin's first regional appearance since 1994.
And if Wisconsin were to advance to the NCAA Championships, it would only be the third time in the last 40 years.
As Wisconsin hopes to make history this season, there is no doubt Schuman is glad to have Woltman along for the ride.
"I think it speaks volume(s) to our program here, our university, when you see players like Dan Woltman," said Schuman in an April 23 press conference. "For whatever reason, he gravitates toward Kentucky, you know, and finds out maybe the grass isn't greener on the other side and ends up back here."
