By Press Times Sports

HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. – The UW-Green Bay men’s and women’s golf teams both played in the Horizon League Championships in Florida beginning April 23, with the women’s team coming out with their first conference championship in program history.

The Phoenix women wrapped up day one in sixth out of 10th place after shooting a 319 as a team, 31 strokes over par and just six off of the pace set by then leader, Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI).

Ashley Kulka had a strong showing for the Phoenix, posting a 77 (+5) to begin Monday in a tie for fifth overall.

Isabelle Maleki wasn’t far behind Kulka, scoring a 79 (+7), putting her in 13th place. Ellie Frisch opened her first Championship appearance with an 81 (+9), finishing in a seven-way tie for 20th individually while teammate Caylie Kotlowski tallied an 82 (+10).

Courtney Matschke scored an 83 (+11) to round out the Phoenix.

The men finished Sunday with a score of 322, 34 over par and 32 behind Purdue Fort Wayne, the day’s top team with a score of 290.

Ryan Schuelke had a good opening day for the Phoenix, notching a 75 (+3), to land in a seven-way tie for 13th place individually.

Joe Forsting shot an 80 (+8), good for a tie in 39th place overall while teammate Zak Kulka posted an 82 (+10) to finish in the top three for UW-Green Bay.

The Phoenix women rose through the rankings on Monday, April 24 to finish day two of the Horizon League Championships in top position with a score of 296 (+39) on the day, well ahead of second place Cleveland State with a 310 (+48). It was quite a turnaround for UW-Green Bay from day one’s sixth-place finish as Kulka once again led the way for the Phoenix, this time turning in a scorecard of 72 for even par, putting her in a tie for second place individually. Maleki was also impressive on Monday, firing a 73 for one over par to improve on her day one score by six strokes.

Frisch, a freshman, notched a 76 (+4) to climb into 13th place overall.   

On the men’s side of the action, UW-Green Bay got a great round out of Forsting, who recorded a 74 (+2) to help get the Phoenix to a score of 311 for day two, 11 strokes better than the team’s day-one total. Schuelke shot a 83 (+11) and Kulka turned in a round of 78 (+6), four strokes better than his day one performance.

Action concluded on Tuesday, April 25th with history being made. The UWGB women’s golf team captured their first Horizon League Championship!

Matschke was the star of the show, hitting a phenomenal 71 (-1) on the third and final day of competition. The Phoenix had two individual finishers in the top five, Kulka and Maleki, respectively.

After placing sixth as a team when day one came to an end, Green Bay finished the conference with a +50 total, 12 strokes ahead of second place Oakland (+62).

Even though the men put up their best team score of the tournament (308), it wasn’t enough to climb up the leaderboard. Kulka once again improved his total by four strokes (74), finishing the tournament at +18. Trent Meyer and Austin Schnell both put up a 77 to contribute as the Phoenix’s best individual performances on day three.

At the time of writing, the women’s team is unsure of the location for their regional rounds, which run from May 8-10. Keep an eye out for a feature story next week on the first-time conference champions.