After finishing in second place at the Gopher Invitational, the Wisconsin men's golf team is looking to pick up where they left off two weeks ago. Only this time, the Badgers hope to play well for all the days of the competition.

Wisconsin was led by junior Danny Zimmerman, who finished tied for the tournament’s individual title.

"We didn't play as well as we thought we should have or as we know we could have played in Minnesota," Zimmerman said.

Despite not playing their best down the stretch, Zimmerman was happy with the way the team ended the tournament.

"It's a good sign that we didn't play that well and still finished second," Zimmerman said.

After leading in the opening rounds of the Gopher Invitational, the team fell apart in the final round — and settled for second place. Head coach Jim Schuman said consistency is what the team will need to win the VCU Invitational in Richmond, Va., which takes place Monday and Tuesday.

"We played well [in Minnesota]; it was a really difficult golf course," Schuman said. "We didn't play well the last day, and that was a little disappointing to us."

While Zimmerman and fellow junior Dan Woltman contributed heavily to the team’s high finish at the Gopher Invitational, UW is looking for its younger and less experienced players to step up their play. Schuman believes that the entire team has to perform well to be successful.

"We're not going to win tournaments by getting solid play out of one, two, or even three players," Schuman said. "We need to get contributions from that fourth and fifth player in order to win."

In the team's first two tournaments of the season, Woltman and Zimmerman have been steady for the Badgers. Still, Zimmerman knows it is a team effort.

"We have a lot of talent and a lot of guys who can play golf on this team," Zimmerman said. "We just have to keep it together the whole time."

"This is by far the deepest pool of players that we have had for the four years since I've been here," Schuman said. "We're probably eight or nine players deep right now."

When asked on what the team had to work on to put them in a position to win the VCU Invitational, the same answer was repeated by both Schuman and Zimmerman.

"Our short game," Schuman said. "It always comes down to the short game. Whoever seems to manage it well and get your golf ball up and down, or make those five or six foot putts for par or birdie or whatever they are, that's the team that's gonna come out on top and that's the team that's going to be most consistent."

Zimmerman also feels the short game is important if the Badgers want to win, however, he acknowledged that there is more to it.

"We've been working on our short game a lot," Zimmerman said. "But the big thing is keeping the ball in play. As long as we keep it in play, we have a shot of getting on the green and going from there and trying to win the tournament."