Lauterbach gets latest ‘W’ for UW
WALES – Emily Lauterbach stood green-side Wednesday afternoon, accepting fist bumps, elbow taps, halfdistant shoulder pats and congratulatory smiles from family, friends and fellow players.
That’s what passes for celebration in the era of COVID-19. But then, from 20 or 30 yards away, Bobbi Stricker’s voice boomed, the way voices on a golf course rarely do:
“Can I give you a hug?!?” An embrace that would have seemed perfectly normal in a pre-pandemic world carried a little extra meaning for these University of Wisconsin teammates.
Lauterbach extended to six the string of consecutive Wisconsin State Women’s Open victories by UW players. She did it in her first tournament since February – after using the coronavirus shutdown to iron out her game – and she did it in a field dominated by players she might call if she were assembling a foursome for a friendly 18.
All this on a day that began with Lauterbach spending 2 hours on the phone with Tess Hackworthy – the winner of the previous four State Women’s Opens – before she started her second round at the Legend at Brandybrook.
“She’s down in Texas now, and she’s such a good leader and a great role model for me,” Lauterbach said of her former UW teammate, who turned pro when the pandemic shortened her senior season...
“She told me to kick butt, and good luck. We’re good friends too, so it wasn’t just golf always.”
Before Hackworthy, UW’s Gabby Curtis won the State Women’s Open.
Lauterbach, an Arrowhead graduate who just finished her freshman season with the Badgers, shot a 2-over 75 Wednesday for a two-day total of 146.
Abby Cavaiani, a prep rival of Lauterbach’s at Kettle Moraine, shot a 1over 74 to tie for second. Cavaiani will be a junior at Missouri State. Amy Kucera, a rising senior at Xavier who summers in Fontana, matched her score.
Grace Suter, who has been training in Florida since graduating early from Oconomowoc, held onto fourth place, and former UW player Carly Werwie, the women’s golf coach at Loyola, shot a second-round 79 to finish sixth, six shots off the lead, best among the pros.
Lauterbach came into the tournament with confidence based on her experience on the course – 23 minutes from her house, she said – having played it countless times and having won an American Junior Golf Association Tour event here 2018. But still. …
“I get shakes on the first hole. And I still had them, but I feel like since it was at one of my home courses, it definitely made it feel a little better,” Lauterbach said.
While the layoff was tough, Lauterbach did put it to good use, stepping back and looking at her game.
“It helped me a lot honestly,” Lauterbach said. “I was not hitting greens or striking the ball nearly as well as I had been in years.”
Now she has another month before her next tournament, the Women’s Western Amateur, July 20-25, in Frankfort, Illinois. Lauterbach hopes to find some aspect of her game to improve on during the layoff, but that’s not all.
“Relax … go to the pool … and golf,” Lauterbach said. Then she caught herself.
“I’ve got school, actually. My summer school started Monday.”