Ava Salay played in the Big Ten Women’s Championship for the Wisconsin Badgers as a freshman at Bulle Rock in Havre de Grace, Maryland this past weekend where they finished eighth out of 13 teams.

The difference between the golf venues she played at in her time as a Cardinal in high school compared to those in college is immense, with courses that approach LPGA length and difficulty.

For example, Therese Hession golf course that the Badgers played on two weekends ago in Columbus, Ohio was over 6,300 yards, which is well longer than that of even boys varsity golf in Wisconsin. It’s not even just the length either as there’s few easy looks at pins along the way. Essentially, it’s a bear of a course, and they’re playing against the best women in college golf.

With college golf being a split season, half of it played in the fall and the other half in the spring, Salay didn’t make the starting roster right away in her first semester in Madison. Instead, she spent the fall putting in the time it takes to get acclimated and adjust to a new atmosphere with higher-level competition and courses. This effort paid off for her this spring when she worked her way into the starting D1 lineup for the Badgers three times as the sixth starter.

Golf fans will know that team’s field one more player than there are scores that count towards their total. Meaning, of the six that the Badgers field, only the five best scores are added up to give them their final line on the day.

Generally, teams are expecting their top players to consistently put up the best scores. As the sixth person on the roster, players like Salay aren’t really relied upon to contribute a counting score more than maybe one day in three, and anything more than that is just icing on the cake.

Thus, her first taste of competitive college golf came at the beginning of February when the team traveled south to play in the Florida Atlantic Paradise Invitational, and she was selected to travel with them and hold down their final spot.

In college competitions, teams play three rounds over three days. So, although she didn’t play quite as well as she would’ve liked on day 1, Salay did shoot par in her second round and was able to add a counting score for her team.

After that, she fell off the starting roster for a few events but eventually worked her way back into the starters’ list, competing at the Ohio State Lady Buckeye Invitational last weekend. Salay played pretty well the first couple rounds there, but it was the last round that was her best, shooting a 74 and scoring for her team once again.

To put it into perspective, a 74 put her as one the top scorers on the day, and this was amongst a group of women who will likely be sending more than a handful of its members to the LPGA after graduation. With this strong performance, she was able to keep her starting spot and compete in the Big Ten Women’s Championship this week in Maryland.

Although her first couple rounds weren’t her best at Bulle Rock, Salay finished strongly once again, shooting a 76 in round three and adding another counting score for her team to her resume.

With a current ranking of 69^th in the nation, the Badgers will fall short of the NCAA tournament cutoff of 64, thus ending the 2023/2024 college golf season. However, the work is never done for professional athletes.

In addition to her play with the Badgers this year, Salay also competed in the Orlando Women’s Amateur Championship in between semesters this past winter. It’s unaffiliated with college golf, but it was an event she could play in to gain more experience and get ready for the spring team trials this spring.

Salay will be doing the same thing again in between seasons this summer, with five big events on her docket: the Wisconsin Women’s Match Play Championship, the Wisconsin Women’s State Open, the Wisconsin Women’s Amateur Championship, the Women’s Western Amateur event in Missouri and finally, the USGA Women’s Am Qualifier which is held in Illinois.

With her personal training as well as competing in these high-profile events, Salay will be ready for her sophomore year at Madison in September when she will look to build upon the groundwork she laid for herself as a freshman.