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.”