As most Madison students are still easing their way into the fall semester, the UW women’s golf team is already hard at work on the course.

Todd Oehrlein — who has been the Badger women’s head golf coach since 2004 — says that they are working hard to be ready and get prepared for their opener this weekend at the Cougar Classic in Charleston, S.C., on Sept. 13. After four rounds of qualifying this past Friday through Monday, five team members will be making the trip to South Carolina.

Oehrlein was optimistic about this weekend’s tournament, but said if there was something the team could work on, it was on the greens.

“I think we need to putt a little bit better,” he said. “That’s going to be a key thing that we putt more consistently. We tend to drive pretty well, but putting will be a key stat for us this season. If we can build in that area, we will see good scores.”

Along with putting, Oehrlein emphasized the need to finish holes when you are ahead.

“We’re just trying to provide and emphasize the scoring situation and the short game,” Oehrlein said. “You capitalize on most scoring opportunities and you make a difference finishing off rounds. We’ve tried to emphasize this in the offseason; hopefully, it will pay off.”

Senior Kelsey Verbeten — who had the teams best scoring average last year and was also voted the team’s player of the year — verifies the emphasis that her coach and team have put on putting. With a relatively young group, she also believes that her team needs to be confident in themselves.

“We have a young team, so I think the biggest challenge will be believing in ourselves and knowing we are capable of good numbers,” Verbeten said. “I think we will have a good team this year.”

With tough competition in the Big Ten, the upcoming match is important for the Badgers to get ready for conference play.

“The teams to beat are always Purdue, Michigan State and Ohio State, so if we could sneak out a win against them, it would really help,” Verbeten said. “Indiana is always really good as well, but as long as we put up good numbers, we’ll be all right.”

Another senior leader on this year’s team is Molly Schemm, who had a strong finish last season, leading the Badgers in three of the last four events.

When asked whether he thinks Schemm’s strong finish will carry over into this season, Oehrlein replied, “Molly is playing great right now. She’s done well in early practice and is looking strong and ready to go. We will need consistent contributions from Molly but from everyone else as well.”

This year’s team looks to be well-rounded both on and off the course, and Verbeten has high hopes for a good finish this season. She believes that a strong start will be key.

“I think it’s a good building block to start out well in the fall. We have a number of players who can put up big numbers. I think we will finish better than last year, and I think we will be able to finish in the top four this year (in the conference). We just have to believe in ourselves to get to the next level.”