Age is just a number.

Despite being the only true freshman on the UW women’s golf
team, Carly Werwie has quickly made a name for herself as one of the leaders on
the team. Originally from Kenosha, Werwie is currently one of the main
components of the team’s success in recent match play.

As a high school star, Carly competed in the Wisconsin state
tournament three times, two of which she won first place. In 2005 and 2006, she
was a United States Golf Association Junior Girls qualifier, as well as a U.S.
Women’s Amateur Public Links qualifier. After being recruited to Badger nation,
she was excited to contribute to her state college, but knew that time
management would be the most difficult aspect of her college experience.

“It’s such a busy schedule with practices, workouts and
traveling, and I thought it was going to be hard to make that change,”
Werwie said. “It was tough in the beginning getting used to everything,
but I have so much fun with the team, and we get along great, so it has been a
really great experience so far.”

As a Badger in the fall season, Werwie competed in three
events, one of which as an individual at the Badger Invite where she finished
tied for No. 20. Her best outing during the 2007 season came at the Hawkeye
Invitational in Iowa, where she shot a season- and career-low score of 233
through three rounds. Despite the impressive scores, both Carly and head coach
Todd Oehrlein knew there was still room for improvement.

“She has gotten physically stronger and more than
anything, her short game has improved,” Oehrlein said. She puts a lot of
emphasis on it and has worked hard on her short game and putting, and the
results show that.”

Within a half a year, Werwie’s development has been evident.
To end the season, Carly was on top of the Badger roster in scoring during the
last three outings. She shot her career best of 225 in three rounds at the
Susie Maxwell Berning Classic, where she also broke the record for lowest round
ever recorded by a female Badger with 71 during the second round.

In the final tournament of the spring season, the Big Ten
Championships, she led all six Wisconsin competitors and finished at No. 14
with a score of 302 after four rounds. The impressive score of 75.5 strokes per
round ranks as fifth-best in UW history for 72-holes. After averaging 77.53
strokes per round in the spring and fall season combined, Werwie realized that
her short game was the only thing stopping her from being atop the leader
board.?

“My short game has gotten a lot better,” Werwie
said. “In the fall, I was struggling to make up and downs, hitting bad
chips and wasn’t making as many putts. In the spring season, my short game has
improved in the sense that I am getting up and down almost every time, so that
really helps out my scores.”

During the cold winter season when she was unable to practice
outside, Carly spent most of her training in the Kohl Center on a practice
green that was set up. There she focused on chipping and putting in order to
maintain her confidence during competition. Whenever she traveled to opposing
tournaments, Werwie spent a majority of her warm-up on the greens in order to
create muscle memory and get rid of careless shots. This diligence in her golf
game continues to excite both her teammates and coaches in her bright future as
a Badger.

“We are excited about seeing her continue to work hard
and for her to try to do the best she can do,” Oehrlein said. “She is
very dedicated. She is a very hard worker, and she is very passionate about her
golf game. When you put that together, players have bright futures. I think
Carly is going to be a leader for us, and we look forward to continuing to work
with her.”

With a team that is only losing one senior in Katie Elliot,
Werwie noted how quickly she has bonded with her team. This team continuity has
motivated Carly and her teammates to improve their games over the summertime in
order to stay strong for the fall 2008 campaign.

“I think everyone is really excited to get out there in
the fall and improve,” Werwie said. “I want to keep improving my game
and make my scores lower because my first year was great, and I want the next
three years to be even better.”