Badger women golfers tie for 5th at championship

The University of Wisconsin women’s golf team shot a final-round 317 at the 2004 Big Ten Championship, tying with Michigan for fifth place with a total 1,243 for the 72-hole tournament.

UW senior Malinda Johnson led the Badgers, shooting a 77 Sunday and placing fourth individually with a total score of 299 at the par 72, 6,201-yard OSU Scarlet Course.

Ohio State clinched its third-consecutive conference title by shooting the lowest 18-hole score of the tournament in the final round. The Buckeyes finished with 301-299-306-293=1199. Indiana, Michigan State and Purdue rounded out the top six teams with Wisconsin and Michigan.

Indiana’s Danah Ford led the 66-individual field, shooting 74-72-70-71=287 to win the medal. She finished five strokes ahead of the Buckeyes’ Allison Hanna in second and nine strokes ahead of OSU’s Kristen White in third. Johnson and Purdue’s Beth Hermes rounded out the top five.

Sophomore Lindsay McMillan was second behind Johnson in overall team standings. She registered scores of 77-74-86-80=317 to tie for 27th.

After leading the Badgers in the third round and shooting an 18-hole career best, freshman Jill Ries continued her success Sunday, firing a 78 in the final round. She moved into a tie for 36th with final scores of 83-84-76-78=321. True freshman Nicki Morse was fourth on the Badger lineup. She tied for 43rd with scores of 80-77-81-87=325.

Junior Sami Forster was not far behind Morse in a tie for 51st, and she contributed the fourth score to the final-round team total. She fired 77-87-84-82=330 in her first appearance at the conference tournament. Still not missing a round since she began her career as a Badger, sophomore Jackie Obermueller tied for 58th after finishing with 89-81-81-83=334.

— compiled from staff reports