Blue Devils finish runner-up at WIAC golf championship

2017 WIAC Golf Championship Results | WIAC Women's Golf Championship website

REEDSBURG (October 8, 2017) -  As hard as it was to avoid the temptation Sunday, the UW-Stout women's golf team couldn't help but turn its head-to-head duel with UW-Whitewater into a battle of match-play wills during the final round of the 22nd annual WIAC Championship at Reedsburg Country Club.

The Blue Devils had the will, hanging within six strokes of the Warhawks through the first 15 holes of the final round of the WIAC Championship. But they couldn't find a way to match Whitewater over the final three, which the Warhawks played in a sizzling 1-under-par as they gained 10 strokes on the defending WIAC champions and pulled away to a 17-stroke victory.

Whitewater shot 311, the lowest final-round score in tournament history by three strokes, and -- with a 54-hole total of 942 -- joined Stout (959) and UW-Oshkosh (962) in bettering UW-Eau Claire's tournament scoring record (963) set in 2009 at Northern Bay Resort in Arkdale. Eau Claire finished fourth at 983, marking the first time more than two schools broke 1,000.

"As much as we talk about playing your own game and your own ball, it's impossible to do," Stout coach Howie Samb said after his team broke the school scoring record for the WIAC Championship by seven shots. "It gets down to match play, basically. Four of the five got behind significantly early. We turned what could have been reasonable rounds into a bad day. But we'd have had to play awful good -- 311 is a phenomenal score. Whitewater played really well."

Stout senior Rachel Hernandez, who began the day with a one-stroke lead, was still ahead by one on Whitewater's CheyAnn Knudsen until the par-3 15th hole. Both golfers had birdie putts of about 12 feet -- Hernandez from above the hole, Knudsen from below -- and Hernandez slid hers past about 2½ feet, Knudsen drained hers and Hernandez missed the short one for par.

Knudsen went on to birdie the next hole en route to a final-round 78 and, with a 233 total, a one-stroke win over teammate Ashley Hofmeister, last year's champion. Hernandez finished with an 82 and tied for fourth at 236 -- her third consecutive top-five finish at the WIAC meet.

"The last four holes were tough," Samb said of Hernandez, who was honored afterward with the Judy Kruckman Award as the WIAC's top senior scholar-athlete. "Four years is rewound in her mind as she is finishing. But she played her heart out. … She had a great career.

"She'll be fine. She'll be proud of herself when she looks at this."

Stout also counted an 82 from sophomore Alexa Filipiak, who tied for 18th (254); an 83 from sophomore Trystin Kluess, who tied for sixth (238) and an 84 from junior Marie Allo, who placed 15th (246). They threw out an 85 from sophomore Madison McCambridge, who was 11th (242).

Samb hopes the loss stings for his sophomore class perhaps more than it showed after the round. It figures to have plenty of battles with the three sophomores that delivered Whitewater its first conference title since 1999 -- Knudsen, Hofmeister and No. 5 golfer Kelly Storti (eighth).   

"I hope they learn from it," Samb said. "(Whitewater) was very business-like. … They handled their emotions well. They kept it in play and they chipped and putted a lot better than we did."

Meanwhile, the Blue Devils' three individual qualifiers all finished the tournament strong.

Junior Haley Seifert shot 81 and finished 17th (250). Freshman Alyssa Bee shot 86 and finished 31st (264). Junior Hannah Baker shot 88 and finished 36th.

Team Scores - Final
1. UW-Whitewater 942
2. UW-Stout 959
3. UW-Oshkosh 962
4. UW-Eau Claire 983
5. UW-Platteville 1,042
6. UW-River Falls 1,048
7. UW-Stevens Point 1,114

Coach of the Year
Howie Samb - UW-Stout

Judy Kruckman Scholar-Athlete
Rachel Hernandez - UW-Stout

All-Sportsmanship Team
UW-Eau Claire - Whitney DeMow
UW-Oshkosh - Micayla Richards
UW-Platteville - Lindsay Neitzel
UW-River Falls - Miranda Ray
UW-Stevens Point - Maddison Williams
UW-Stout - Madison McCambridge
UW-Whitewater - Hayley Jefferson





REEDSBURG (October 8, 2017) - UW-Stout picked a bad time to post one of their highest rounds of the season.

Stout led the 2017 WIAC Women's Golf Championship by three strokes after both the first day and the second day, but with a red-hot UW-Whitewater team right behind them, the Blue Devil could ill-afford a high score on the third and final day.

But the first two days' rounds were good enough to balance out the team's third highest round of the season and the Blue Devils placed second behind the Warhawks Sunday at Reedsburg Country Club.

Stout shot a scorching 309 on the second day, but could not pull away from the Warhawks who matched their 309. The Warhawks stayed steady, posting a 311 on the third day, while Stout put up a 331, only the fourth-best team score of the round. The Warhawks took the title, their first since 1999, along with an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship next spring, with a three-day score of 942 (322-309-311), while the Blue Devils finished at 959 (319-309-331), 17 strokes behind the leaders.

The Blue Devils did manage to hold off UW-Oshkosh, the other team in the three-way race, edging the Titans by three strokes (324-319-319 - 962).

The Warhawks also took the top two individual spots, with Whitewater's No. 2 player CheyAnn Knudsen winning medalist honors (80-75-78 - 233) over her teammate, Ashley Hofmeister, the defending individual champion (79-80-75 - 234).

Stout's Rachel Hernandez, who led after the second round, finished in a tie for fourth (80-74-82 - 236). Hernandez received the WIAC's Judy Kruckman Scholar-Athlete Award.

Trystin Kluess, Stout's No. 5 player, finished in a tie for sixth (78-77-83 - 238). Madison McCambridge finished 11th (80-77-85 - 242), Marie Allo finished 15th (81-81-84 - 246) and Alexa Filipiak finished in a tie for 18th (90-82-82 - 254).

Playing as individuals, Haley Seifert was 17th (86-83-81 - 246), Alyssa Bee was 31st (86-92-86 - 264) and Hannah Baker was 36th (87-98-88 - 273).

Coach Howie Samb was selected the WIAC coach of the year for the seventh time and McCambridge was named to the all-sportsmanship team.