Titans Swing Back Into Action With Golf Tournament In Illinois
The UW-Oshkosh women's golf team ends nearly 18 months of inactivity when it opens the spring portion of the 2020-21 season Saturday (April 3) at the Carthage College Invitational.
UW-Oshkosh, which hasn't competed since October 6 of the 2019 WIAC Championship due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, will attend five tournaments this spring before returning to its traditional schedule in the fall.
Saturday's Firebird Division of the Carthage College Invitational is an 18-hole event that begins at 10 a.m. from the Red Tail Run Golf Course in Village of Lakewood, Ill. Joining UW-Oshkosh in the tournament are golfers from North Central College (Ill.), St. Norbert College, UW-Eau Claire, UW-Stevens Point and UW-Stout.
The Titans follow their season opener with appearances at the 18-hole Marian University Invitational on April 10, 36-hole UW-Whitewater Invitational on April 16-17 and the 18-hole UW-Whitewater Spring Fling on April 24. The Marian University tournament will be held at the Whispering Springs Golf Club in Fond du Lac while the two UW-Whitewater events will be contested at the Riverside Golf Club in Janesville.
UW-Oshkosh's schedule this spring is highlighted by the 54-hole WIAC Championship that will be held April 30-May 2 at the Reedsburg Country Club in Reedsburg.
UW-Oshkosh placed third at the 2019 WIAC Championship and is seeking its fifth league title and first since the 2015-16 season.
UW-Whitewater claimed the 2019 WIAC title with 933 strokes while UW-Stout finished second with 941, UW-Oshkosh third with 987 and UW-Eau Claire fourth with 990.
Rounding out the team standings at the 2019 league championship were fifth-place UW-Platteville with 1,006 strokes, sixth-place UW-La Crosse with 1,043, seventh-place UW-River Falls with 1,060 and eighth-place UW-Stevens Point with 1,095.
The Titans return six previous letterwinners for first-year head coach Beth Hubbard. Hubbard, the fifth head coach in program history, succeeds Liza Ruetten, who retired after leading UW-Oshkosh from the 2012-13 through 2019-20 seasons.
Junior Erika Priebe headlines the returning Titans following a 2019 fall season in which she won the UW-Oshkosh Titan Fall Classic, finished fourth at the Wartburg College (Iowa) Invitational and 19th at the WIAC Championship.
UW-Oshkosh also welcomes back senior Nikki Differt, juniors Margherite Pettenuzzo and Mackenzie Retzlaff, and sophomores Lauryn Davis and Megan Footit. Pettenuzzo placed 13th at the 2019 WIAC Championship while Differt finished 24th, Davis 28th and Footit 33rd.
UW-Oshkosh won WIAC titles during the 2000-01, 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2015-16 seasons and made NCAA Division III Championship appearances in 2003, 2004 and 2016. The Titans placed fourth at the national tournament in 2004, fifth in 2003 and 14th in 2016.