Nietfeldt/Knispel Win Four-Ball in Dramatic Fashion
It was a wide open final round race and an incredible finish capped the 18th Nebraska Four-Ball Championship at The Players Club in Omaha, with Ryan Nietfeldt of Elkhorn and Ryan Knispel of Omaha capturing the title.
Omaha’s Mark Wright and Bennington’s Steve Buroker, Cole Grandfield of Omaha and John Sutko of Elkhorn and two-time champions David Easley of Lincoln and Joel Wisdom of Omaha entered the final round tied for the lead. The three teams fought through a brutally windy and cold first round to shoot 68 (-3). Only 14 teams were able to break par, compared to 33 last year at The Players Club. Which left the door open for several teams to make a final round run.
The leaders didn’t hold on for long, and all but Easley and Wisdom were out of contention for most of the back nine. Instead, two teams caught fire and came from behind to get into a playoff.
Gretna’s Brian Csipkes and Omaha’s Bill Amundsen made three birdies on the front nine to jump into the lead, and kept it rolling on the back nine. Amundsen birdied No. 12, and Csipkes made birdie on both par-3s to get the team to 6-under for the day. Amundsen nearly made birdie on No. 17, and Csipkes had a great look at birdie on No. 18, but neither putt would fall and they were the first in the clubhouse at 135 (-7), after a final round 65 (-6).
Nietfeldt and Knispel made the turn in 34 (-1), after a Nietfeldt birdie on No. 9, and started watching the leaderboard. They knew they would need to make some birdies to chase down Csipkes and Amundsen, and they did just that. Knispel rolled one in on No. 11, Nietfeldt followed with another on the par-3 13th, and they both had makeable putts on the par-3 16th.
"We both hit some good shots in on No. 16, we had, each of us, about 10-12 feet left for birdie, and we noticed that (Cispkes and Amundsen) were on No. 18 and they were two ahead of us," Knispel said. "So we thought we needed to make those putts, we assumed they were going to make birdie at No. 18, which they didn't. We both just missed our putts, so we knew we had to birdie the last two holes, and I birdied No. 17 and (Nietfeldt) birdied No. 18, a clutch putt on No. 18, and got us into a playoff."
Knowing they’d likely need to birdie-out to win outright, both missed their putts on No. 16, but Knispel stuck his approach close on No. 17 and made the putt. Then Nietfeldt went for the green in two on the par-5 18th, catching the greenside bunker. He converted his up-and-down for birdie, making a clutch putt to force the playoff.
Easley and Wisdom, who won their first title in 2006 and another in 2012, had a chance to join the playoff on No. 18, after Easley birdied the 17th. After his second shot finished just short of the green, Easley hit a great chip, but his ball stopped just a few inches short of the hole. He tapped in for birdie, and they finished at 136 (-6) after a second-straight 68 (-3).
The playoff went to No. 18, and Csipkes and Amundsen seemed to have the advantage with two birdie looks, including Amundsen’s from about six feet. However, they never even had the chance to putt.
Nietfeldt went for the green, but pulled it left of the greenside bunker into an awkward, downhill lie in the rough, with the green sloping away from him.
"Once I hit the (second) shot, I knew I pulled it, and I knew it was going to be a really hard where that pin was, luckily I had a good lie," Nietfeldt said.
He went for broke, hitting a flop shot and landing it on the fringe just over the bunker. The ball trickled onto the green and started rolling down the slope. Nietfeldt knew it was good, and started yelling "go in!" The ball listened and dropped into the hole. It was a walk-off eagle-3, and Nietfeldt and Knispel had won their first Nebraska Four-Ball title.
"It's one of those things where I had a good lie, and just told myself to stay left and trust it," Nietfeldt said. "I just hit a one in maybe 500 shot, where it just came off perfect, it landed exactly where I wanted it and started trickling down, and literally I'm like 'go in,' because it just felt like it was going to go in."
Nietfeldt has a knack for holing these types of shots, having chipped in many times in NGA competitions, including a similar, seemingly impossible shot at the Nebraska Match Play Championship in 2017 at Shadow Ridge Country Club. Both hole-outs elicited the same celebration from Nietfeldt, a loud "woo!"
"Then I got pretty excited, because that's one of the better shots I think I've ever hit under pressure, knowing what we had to do, so it was pretty cool, a great experience," Nietfeldt said.
It was a longtime coming for Knispel and Nietfeldt, who hadn't played together since 2015. Before that though, they had finished in the top four each year from 2012 to 2015. That included close calls in 2013 and 2015, when they were just one stroke short of a playoff. This time, they made the clutch shots to get into and win the playoff.
"This is my first NGA championship, so this is a big deal, it's a big deal for me," Knispel said. "It's a big deal for us, because we've been close a lot of times."
It's a first NGA title for Knispel, and it holds a lot of meaning for him. On the other side, Nietfeldt has now accomplished something no other player has been able to do. He's won six different NGA championships, adding the Four-Ball title to his Nebraska Amateur (2002), Nebraska Match Play (2003), Nebraska Mid-Amateur (2001 & 2013), Nebraska Junior Amateur (1993 & 1994) and Nebraska Junior Match Play (1993) titles. The only NGA titles left for him to win are the senior championships, which the 43-year-old will have to wait to win.
Nietfeldt also has tied the great Bob Astleford with eight NGA men's titles, the second-most all-time, just behind Knox Jones, John Sajevic and Alex Schaake at nine.
Visit the championship website below for full results and more. Check us out on Twitter (@NGAgolf) for highlights of the championship.
The Road to Pebble Beach Begins at Champions Run
The Road to Pebble Beach will begin for 53 players on May 9 at Champions Run in Omaha, when Local Qualifying for the U.S. Open will be conducted by the Nebraska Golf Association.
This is the first stage of qualifying for the 118th U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links, and three players will advance to the second stage, Sectional Qualifying.
The course will be played at 7,163 yards for the qualifier. Champions Run is no stranger to high-level golf, having hosted the Nationwide Tour's (now Web.com Tour) Cox Classic for many years, and also hosting the 2018 Nebraska Match Play Championship.
The field is highlighted by a couple past Nebraska Golfers of the Year who have turned professional, and a few who are still amateurs. The 2014 Nebraska Golfer of the Year Carson Schaake of Omaha and the 2015 and 2016 award winner, Rylee Reinertson of Gibbon, are two of the pros who will try to earn their way into the U.S. Open.
Schaake has been playing on the mini-tours in Arizona, while Reinertson has earned conditional status on the Mackenzie Tour (PGA Tour Canada) for the 2019 season through his play at the tour's Q-School. Schaake is coming off a win on the Dreamchasers Tour, where he shot three straight rounds of 68 (-4) to win by a stroke at 12-under.
Omaha's Alex Schaake, brother of Carson and the 2017 and 2018 Nebraska Golfer of the Year, leads the amateur brigade. He's coming off a very impressive junior season at the University of Iowa, where he won the Big Ten's Les Bolstad Award, given to the conference player with the lowest stroke average (70.81). Shortly after earning the award, Schaake was named the Big Ten Player of the Year. He's also very familiar with Champions Run, his home course, where he's won the 2016 Nebraska Junior Amateur and the 2018 Nebraska Match Play.
Lincoln's Nate Vontz, who just finished his sophomore campaign for Creighton University, is trying to advance to Sectionals for the second straight year. Last year, he shot even-par 71 at Omaha Country Club to get into a playoff for the final spot, defeating two others, including Alex Schaake, on the first hole to claim the spot.
Norfolk High School senior Luke Kluver, a Kansas University commit, is another name to watch. He earned a spot in the 2017 U.S. Open Sectionals, just before his 17th birthday, with the other two spots that year going to Web.com Tour pros. Now, he's won two straight Nebraska Junior Golfer of the Year awards, and will be a top contender for one of the three spots.
Kluver's counterpart from Missouri, Hank Lierz, will also be competing. Like Kluver, Lierz is his state's 2017 and 2018 Junior Player of the Year, and is committed to play at Kansas.
Some other local golfers in the field include three-time Nebraska Golfer of the Year Ryan Nietfeldt of Elkhorn, who is coming off his eighth NGA title after an incredible walk-off hole-out for eagle at the Nebraska Four-Ball. Shane Zywiec of Lincoln, one of the Nebraska PGA Section's top players, and recently-turned professional Philip Maschka of Omaha are two others to keep an eye on.
The most experienced golfer in the field, though, has to be professional Michael Letzig of Parkville, Missouri. Letzig is a journeyman on the professional tours, and after turning pro in 2002, has played on both the PGA Tour and Web.com Tour since. His last full season on the PGA Tour was in 2013, and he last played on the Web.com Tour in 2017. His experience on the Web.com Tour (then the Nationwide Tour) led him to play the Cox Classic at Champions Run three times, in 2003, 2005 and 2007. He made the cut twice, with a best finish of T21 and a low round of 65.
Pairings and additional information are available on the NGA website at the button below. Spectators are welcome to attend on Thursday at Champions Run, and live scoring will be available for those that want to follow online.