Senior Dooley (-1) leads ACU Golf in Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis. -- Abilene Christian golf displayed gradual improvement over its three days (Sunday to Tuesday) at the season-opening Badger Invitational hosted by the University of Wisconsin. As part of a 16-team field that featured six power conference institutions, the Wildcats went from 11 to 9 to 8-over par in finishing 13th overall (28-over, 892), ahead of squads from Wofford, Xavier and South Dakota State.

Senior Bryce Dooley Tuesday finished at par 72 for the second time in three days to finish in a tie for 17th place at 1-under 215. The Friendswood, Texas native birdied his second hole (No. 11) of the morning -- a par 5 -- to complete the front nine at 1-under, and later he and all his teammates birdied the par-5 second hole. He was at 2-under for another hole until a double bogey on No. 4 brought him back to par for the remainder of the day.

Dooley carded two birdies Monday on a pair of par-fives, and Sunday he broke even thanks to four birdies from holes nine through 16.

Three other players tied Dooley at 1-under 71: Nevada's Tony Gil, Notre Dame's Davis Lamb and Rutgers' Chris Gotterup.

The Fighting Irish ran away with the team title as they finished 14-under Tuesday to put them 22-under for the week. Kansas was a distant second at 8-under, followed by Mississippi (-6), Illinois State (-3) and Nevada (-2), which boasted individual champion Sam Harned (12-under 204).

Harned, who was part of Dooley's pairing along with Wisconsin's Sam Anderson, birdied half the 18 holes Tuesday, including the par-5 at No. 9 to hold off Notre Dame's Hunter Ostrom. 

Ostrom eagled the seventh hole, but started the back nine with bogeys at No. 10 and 12.

Francisco Osio was the Wildcats' No. 2 golfer at 7-over 223. He was followed in the standings by teammates Alex Clouse (10-over 226), Brian Choe (13-over 229) and Ethan Eppinette (21-over 237). 

Next up for the Wildcats is a trip to Dallas for the Trinity Forest Invitational, which is hosted by SMU from Sept. 22-24.