Many Nebraskan college golfers have made big moves for their schools during this 2018-19 golf season. This year has brought broken school records, new career bests and titles for young golfers.
Omaha native Alex Schaake is no stranger to this kind of success. The junior at Iowa University took the title of Men’s Big Ten Golfer of the Year for the 2019 season. He was also named Men’s Big Ten Golfer of the Week for his performance at their own Hawkeye Invitational. During the tournament, he recorded career bests for 18 holes (63) as well as 54 holes (199), setting a program record. Schaake not only led Iowa, but the Big Ten with a stroke average of 70.81 as well. This allowed him to walk away with the Les Bolstad Award this year for the lowest scoring average in the conference. He also led Iowa this year with a low round of 63 and eight rounds at or below par. For accomplishments like these, Schaake was named to Division PING All-Midwest Regional Team. He was also the Unanimous All-Big Ten First Team honoree.
“I had been playing some really good golf at the end of last summer and that carried into my fall season at Iowa. I always just needed to get that one win in college and I finally got that this year,” Schaake said.
Another golfer in the spotlight is Caleb Badura out of Aurora. During his freshman year at Northwestern College in Iowa, Badura made quite a name for himself. He led the Red Raiders with a 73.6 scoring average this 2019 season, tying for the second lowest in program history. During the season, Badura won two events, finished in the top 10 five times and tied for 59th at the NAIA Men’s Golf National Championship held in Arizona. After the National Championship Badura also recorded his first ever hole-in-one during a practice round at Troon North Golf Club. After his successful season, Badura received the title of the 2019 GPAC Champion and Player of the Year.
Badura’s high school teammate, Alex Kubik of Aurora, had a triumphant sophomore year at Nebraska Wesleyan University. He was named to the 2019 PING Division III Central Region All-Region Team. He was also named the 2019 American Rivers Conference Men’s Golfer of the Year after winning the A-R-C Golf Championships. He led the conference championships from beginning to end and was awarded the A-R-C Men’s Golfer of the Week in back-to-back weeks. The Prairie Wolves won the conference tournament as a team for the second straight year, and head coach Derrick Ceder was named the A-R-C Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season as well.
From Northwest Missouri State, Morgan Thiele of Kearney also led her team for the best stroke average with 79.76, while firing a season-low round of 71. For her sophomore year, Thiele played nine rounds sub-80 as well as earned four top 20 finishes. She found huge success at the 2019 MIAA Women’s Golf Championship with her second overall finish with a score of 221 (72-79-70). The Bearcat team placed fifth.
The Bellevue University women’s golf team took the 2019 North Star Athletic Association Tournament title at Platteview Golf Club. This earned the team an automatic bid to the NAIA National Championship. The team had a total of 688 (355-333) which was 45 strokes ahead of the runner-up, Dickinson State University. Leading this tournament was junior Kim Moore of Scottsbluff. She shot the best round of the day 7-over par 79 for a two-round total of 164. At the NAIA Women’s Golf National Championship, the Bruins placed 26th after two rounds of play which ended their season.
The Bellevue men's team also rolled to the 2019 NSAA Conference title, winning by 22 strokes with a 613 (316-297) two-day total at Platteview Golf Club. Junior Andre Becerra also won the individual title and was named the NSAA Golfer of the Year. All five of the Bruin's earned First Team All-NSAA honors The Bruins earned an automatic bid into the 2019 NAIA National Championship, finishing 16th in the tournament in Mesa, Arizona. Becerra led the team again, finishing tied for 33rd individually.
Current student and golfer at Ottawa University Arizona (OUAZ), Noah Hofman of McCook showed up for his golf team by winning the individual and team title at the GSAC Men's Golf Championship held at the Catta Vedera Country Club in California. The Spirit completed the title run with 906 strokes over the 54-hole event. Finishing with a 223 (+7), Hofman was tied for third after the first round after shooting a 77, but consecutive rounds of 73 led him to the crown.
Representing Nebraskans at Aurora University in Aurora, Illinois, JT Hudson of Omaha and company won the 2019 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Championship, the second consecutive year for Aurora. The Spartans shattered numerous individual and team records and won the competition by 20 strokes. Hudson came from the back of the pack on the final day to win individual medalist honors after shooting a 70 in the final round. He was also named NACC Player of the Year and NACC All-Conference. Collectively, the Spartans shot 284 (-4), breaking the previous NACC Championship record by 14 strokes.
Almost a month later, Hudson and the AU men’s golf team finished 18th at the 2019 NCAA DIII Championships at Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, KY with a four-round score of 1054 (311/309/317/317). Hudson finished tied for 65th with a four-round score of 311 (78/71/83/79).
Morgan Lashley of North Platte made her college debut at Boise State during the Rose City Collegiate Tournament. She shot a 247 (87-83-77 +31).
The University of Nebraska-Kearney had a strong finish to their season, finishing sixth at their conference tournament and earning a NCAA Regional bid. The Lopers placed 10th at the 2019 NCAA Central Regional tournament in Oklahoma shooting a 54-hole total of 956. Freshman Faviola Gonzalez tied for 29th with a 236 (79-79-78). Teammate Nia Station of Omaha, set a new single season stroke record at UNK with (78.19).
Concordia University had three all-conference players, all native Nebraskans. One capped an all-time career, as La Vista's Nolan Zikas earned his fourth All-GPAC award. In his senior season, Zikas set the program record for lowest single season scoring average (74.06) and also holds the career record (75.60). He also won the Siouxland Invite with a 138 two-round total (69-69), another school record. On the women's side for Concordia, junior Murphy Sears of Crete was awarded her third straight All-GPAC honor, while freshman Kendra Placke captured her first such honor.
A couple other Nebraskans earned All-GPAC honors on the men's side, including Doane's Roger Sack, a junior from Lincoln and Midland's Cody Troudt, a junior from Kearney. Troudt's teammate Joe Vest, a senior from Adel, Iowa also made All-GPAC.
In the junior college circuit, Nebraska schools had success as well. Southeast Community College won the DII Region IX Tournament to earn a spot in the DII NJCAA National Championship in Indiana. Jordan Greenwood of Kimball took the top individual honors as well for the Storm. Southeast went on to finish 19th at nationals. McCook Community College finished second at their DI Region IX Tournament, and earned an at-large bid to the national tournament. McCook finished 22nd at the DI NJCAA National Championship in Melbourne, Florida.
Fordyce native Matthew Schaefer had a very successful year at Northeast Community College and will be transferring to DI South Dakota State University. In just one year with the Northeast Community men’s golf team, Schaefer broke numerous records and was named an NJCAA DII All-American Honorable Mention by the NJCAA. He broke seven regular-season records and currently hold four others, including: scoring average (75.39), national rating (44), wins (2), par or better rounds (3), rounds played (22), finish percentage (84.1), counting scores (18), par-3 scoring (3.3), par-4 scoring (4.2), par-5 scoring (5) and low round vs. par (-2). Schaefer will have three years of eligibility at South Dakota State University.
York College's Brady McKinlay, a freshman from Alberta, Canada, won the individual title at the Central Regional Championship, and qualified for the National Christian College Athletics Association (NCCAA) National Championship in Palm Coast Florida, which is set for October 22-24.
NCAA Division I Programs
Creighton Women’s Golf made history this year, matching its best finish in a league tournament in the last 25 years. The Jays finished fifth in the Big East tournament. Their team 958 total is 35 shots better than the team’s showing in last year’s conference tournament. Freshman Katie Allen medaled for the Bluejays, shooting a 231 to finish 10th, which included a 75 in the final round.
Creighton Men’s Golf wrapped up another season and finished it off at the Big East Conference Tournament, matching the women’s team with a fifth place finish. This is their best finish in a league tournament since the days that the Bluejays played in the Missouri Valley Conference. Their roster is flush with homegrown talent, three players on the conference championship roster for the Jays are Nebraskans. Koy Pothoff of Scottsbluff led the team, going 75-75-73 to finish 12th place. Nate Vontz of Lincoln finished tied for 17th place, and Tucker Knaak of Plainview tied for 31st.
The Husker men’s golf team, led by first year head coach Mark Hankins, finished fifth at the Big Ten Championship this year, which shattered their previous best finish at the Big Ten tournament, which was ninth and came in 2013. Tanner Owen and Jay Cottam, a UNK transfer from Hebron, led the Huskers with 11-over finishes, which were good for a tie for 16th place. Mitch Klooz of Laurel finished tied for 34rd with a 225 total. Senior Jace Guthmiller from Yankton, South Dakota shot a 229 total to finish tied for 48th. The Huskers set another school record earlier in the season at the Big Ten Match Play Championship, where they pulled off an upset over Iowa and finished fourth.
Nebraska Women’s Golf also had a few golfers with a strong season. Junior Kate Smith led the Huskers with a 73.52 season stroke average, and has already set the school record for most career rounds at par or better with 30. Smith and Megan Whittaker of Elkhorn led the team at the Big Ten Championships, tying for 51st individually. The Huskers placed 13th overall as a team, but they did pick up a win earlier in the season at the Westbrook Invitational, the school’s first since 2014, beating some top programs in the process. Smith led the team with a 208 (-8) total and tied for runner-up honors, while Beatrice’s Kirsten Baete also finished in the top five, with a 210 (-6) total. It was a send-off for long-time coach Robin Krapfl, who retired at the end of the season, her 32nd at the school. She led the Huskers to 11 NCAA regional berths and was a two-time conference coach of the year during her tenure.
Omaha Men’s Golf team finished sixth in the Summit Championship with a 54-hole score of 898. They carded rounds of 301 and 293 on the last day of the tournament at Sand Creek Station Golf Club. Shooting 77 in round two, junior Nick Kagy posted UNO’s low round of the tournament at one-under 71. Kagy and his teammate junior Witchayapat Sinsrang tied for the team scoring lead at 223. In the second round, Sinsrang carded a score of 75, followed by a 72 in the third. The two finished in a tie for 12th place in a 45-man field. Sinsrang was later named to the Summit League All-League Second Team. He leads the Mavericks in scoring and his stroke average of 73.2 ranked him fourth in the Summit League. At the ODU/OBX Intercollegiate Sinsrang had a round of 65, which set a new school record.
The Women’s team at UNO placed eighth at the Summit League Championship with a final total of 977 at the Sand Creek Station Golf Club. Freshman Zora Gittens led the team with her score of 240. In the final round, Gittens fired 82 and placed in a tie for 18th. Teammate and senior Jordan York of Scottsbluff ended her collegiate career with the Mavericks low round of the day at 77, finishing second on the team at 245. York tied for 26th in the tournament.