The University of Wisconsin men’s golf team travels to West Lafayette, Ind. this weekend to participate in the 2005 Boilermaker Invitational. The event takes place Saturday, April 16 and Sunday, April 17 at Purdue University’s Kampen course.

The Badgers will send five golfers to Purdue to face a field of 11 other teams, including such Big Ten foes as Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Purdue. The other participants will be Iowa State, Missouri, Northern Iowa, Texas-Pan American and Wichita State. The golfers will play a total of 54 holes over the course of the weekend, with 36 on Saturday and 18 on Sunday.

“I’m going to do whatever I can and put it all out there on the golf course,” UW senior Ryan Conn said. “We just have to focus on what we are doing, play every shot the best that we can and hope results come that way because the rest is out of our control.”

Kampen Course measures over 7,200 yards and was designed by Peter Dye, who has designed several courses including Sawgrass, which plays host to the PGA Players’ Championship. Unlike typical Midwest golf courses, Kampen features tall heather rough, waste bunkers, pot bunkers and several ponds.

“The course is a typical Pete Dye design, and the par-threes are very difficult,” assistant coach B.J. Endicott said. “It’s a lynx-style course with an open look, but there are a lot of waste bunkers that can get you in trouble, especially if there’s wind.”

UW sophomore Garrett Jones is looking forward this weekend’s challenge. Last year, Jones shot an even 72 during one of his rounds, but struggled in the other two rounds.

“Purdue will be tough,” Jones said. “It’s their home course so obviously they have an advantage, but the Big Ten is getting stronger every year. I learned a lot from last year’s rounds so this year should be different.”

Conn also remembers last year’s match at Kampen and hopes his experience last year will help.

“It’s a great course, and it’s pretty long off the tee, with really nice greens,” Conn said. “But if you’re not hitting the ball straight, it can definitely make your day go a lot longer.”

Accompanying Conn and Jones this weekend will be senior Brian Brodell, freshman Jeff Kaiser and senior Kevin Tassistro.

Wisconsin is coming off wins over Marquette University and Luther College last weekend at the Orange County National Golf Course in Orlando, Fla. The team has enjoyed much success this season, which Endicott attributes to the players understanding their system.

“If you add one or two impact players, it is certainly going to help,” Endicott said. “But we have more depth this year and overall better players one through five. The guys are buying into what we do with conditioning, practicing, and the technical stuff.”

Conn agrees.

“Guys have another year under their belt, which is huge,” Conn said. “They definitely feel more comfortable out there on the course.”

Jones added that the coaches are working with the players and helping them get their swing technically sound before heading into this important stretch. He also said that the practices have recently been very competitive, which can only aid in their preparation.

After this weekend, Wisconsin heads to Ohio State and Michigan State before playing host to the Big Ten Championships at University Ridge May 6-8 in Madison. These upcoming matches allow the Badgers to face many ranked opponents head-to-head and build their resume to qualify for the NCAA regionals. The Badgers can receive an automatic bid for the regionals by winning the Big Ten, but the players and coaches would rather not leave it to chance.

“It is hugely important to beat teams ranked ahead of you, and those Big Ten teams are the ones we need to beat head-to-head,” Endicott said. “By winning the conference, you can get an automatic exemption, but we’d rather control our own destiny.”

The Badgers must not look past the Boilermaker Invitational this weekend because it is a great chance to move ahead in the standings.

“I want to play my best and help the team win,” Conn said. “I want to contribute every round and hopefully help us win this tournament.”

The road to the NCAAs continues this weekend in West Lafayette.