After an eventful summer on the links, Jordan Elsen will take a golf bag full of confidence into his senior season at the University of Wisconsin.

Playing the final 36 holes at 1-under 143 (73-70), the Kenosha native finished third in the Wisconsin State Open on Wednesday at Blackwolf Run in Kohler.

“I played pretty well,” said Elsen, who had a four-round total of 1-under 287. “I learned quite a bit about my game — what is going well and what needs improvement.”

Dan Woltman, Elsen’s former teammate and roommate at UW, defeated Neil Johnson on the second playoff hole for his second State Open title. He joins state legend Bob Brue as the only two-time amateur winner in the event.

Woltman started the morning five shots behind Johnson and still trailed by three shots after the third round.

Johnson held a two-shot lead going into the final hole, but double-bogeyed the par-4 18th as Woltman forced a playoff. The two finished at 5-under 283.

Elsen carded 10 birdies on Wednesday, including six in the final round. He shot a 3-under 33 on the back nine and had four birdies in a five-hole stretch.

“I was hitting the ball fairly well,” Elsen said. “I was actually rolling the ball very well. I’ve been putting a lot of practice time in the scoring part of my game — Better course management. Being more patient. Use my wedges around the greens from 100 yards and in to shoot some lower scores.

“I didn’t make everything that I looked at, but I scored fairly well. I still made a couple of dumb mistakes around the greens and off the tees. There’s definitely some room for improvement. If I said there wasn’t room for improvement, then I would be a little worried.”

Elsen, who finished fourth in the State Amateur in July, pointed out that UW’s starting five from last season all placed in the top 10. Along with Woltman and Elsen, Danny Zimmerman tied for fifth (293) and Pat Duffy and State Am champion Tyler Obermueller tied for seventh (294).

Elsen and the Badgers open their fall season at the Gopher Invitational Sept. 13-14 in Wayzata, Minn.