Former Nebraska’s men’s golfer and assistant coach Judd Cornell will return to his alma mater to lead the Husker program, NU Vice Chancellor, Director of Athletics Trev Alberts announced on Thursday, Aug. 11.
“We are excited that Judd Cornell will be coming back to Nebraska to lead the young men in the Husker golf program,” Alberts said. “Judd is a hard-working, high-character leader who knows the importance of helping student-athletes develop both on and off the course. He knows our program as well as anyone in the country and will take great pride in continuing the growth of our program.”
Cornell returns to Lincoln after spending the past three seasons as the head coach at Creighton. An Omaha native, Cornell was an assistant coach at Nebraska for six seasons, including his final two years in Lincoln as associate head coach (2017-18 and 2018-19).
“My family and I are thrilled to be back in Lincoln, and I can’t wait to lead the Husker men’s golf program,” Cornell said. “I want to thank Trev Alberts and Bob Burton for giving me the opportunity to return to the University of Nebraska and lead a program that means so much to me. The Husker program has been climbing in the national standings the past several years, and we plan to keep moving forward in the years to come.”
Cornell’s hiring is effective pending the completion of his formal background check.
Cornell, who took over the top spot at Creighton on Aug. 15, 2019, had his first season with the Jays cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite an early end to the spring, Cornell’s first season featured strong performances from junior Nate Vontz, who led CU with a 73.40 scoring average in 2019-20. It was CU’s best individual single-season scoring average since 2007-08.
Creighton continued to make strides in Cornell’s second year, as the Jays’ 296.67 scoring average in 2020-21 was the program’s best since at least 2002-03. Vontz also continued to thrive under Cornell’s tutelage with a 72.06 scoring average that ranked No. 2 in program history. Vontz went on to earn first-team All-BIG EAST honors. Charlie Zielinski, an Omaha native, added an impressive freshman season in 2020-21, capturing second-team All-BIG EAST accolades with his 73.56 stroke average. A third Bluejay, Jackson Thompson, qualified for the 2021 U.S. Amateur Championship at Oakmont.
With Vontz and Zielinski leading the way again in 2021-22, Cornell’s Jays slashed 4.5 strokes per round off their 2020-21 average. Creighton, which finished with a 292.17 team average, also notched the three best team rounds in program history. The Bluejays won Stampede at the Creek in October of 2021 with an 836 (-28), including a program-best first round aggregate of 275 (-13). Vontz won the tournament with a 197 (-19), including individual rounds of 63 (-9) and 65 (-7). Vontz repeated as a first-team All-BIG EAST selection, while Zielinski repeated as a second-team all-conference honoree. Zielinski also earned a spot on the BIG EAST All-Tournament Team after a third-place individual finish at the league championship. Zielinski added a fourth-place finish at the Nebraska Amateur Championship and qualified for the U.S. Amateur Championship in Paramus, N.J. Another Bluejay, Shaun Campbell, a junior from Tauranga, New Zealand, claimed the Nebraska Amateur title with a four-round score of 282 (-2) at Firethorn Golf Club in Lincoln (July 25-28).
Off the course, Creighton’s team led the BIG EAST with a 3.758 GPA, including three golfers who posted perfect 4.0 grade-point averages in the spring of 2021. The team’s performance in the classroom earned Cornell’s squad a second straight BIG EAST Team Academic Excellence Award, which is presented to the program with the best GPA in each league sport.
Cornell’s experience and extensive time with many of the top instructors throughout the United States played a huge role in the preparation and development on and off the course for the golfers he has coached. He worked with Michael Colgate in 2015-16 when Colgate qualified for the NCAA Regionals as an individual. In 2019, Cornell assisted Nebraska to its highest Big Ten finish in school history (5th), as well as its best finish at the Big Ten Match Play Championship (4th).
A member of the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA), Cornell also served as tournament director for the Git-R-Done Husker Invitational in 2019, NU’s first home tournament in 12 years.
As a Husker golfer, Cornell was part of Nebraska’s 2006 NCAA Regional team that included PGA Tour player Brady Schnell and PGA Tour Latino America winner Ty Capps. Cornell was a three-time team captain, a first-team Academic All-Big 12 honoree and the first recipient of the Dick Spangler Memorial Scholarship for his leadership on and off the golf course. He was named 2004 Nebraska Amateur Player of the Year and competed in some of the nation’s top amateur events, including the U.S. Amateur, Western Amateur and North and South Amateur. During his time as a professional, Cornell had success on multiple tours such as the Hooters Tour, Egolf, Dakotas Tour, Gateway, Web.com and Adams tour where he was named 2007 Rookie of the Year and finished among the top 20 on the money list.
Cornell graduated from the University of Nebraska in 2007. He is married to the former Bridget Noonan, who graduated from Creighton in 2008, and is a nurse in Omaha. His family includes his parents, Mike and Patti Cornell and his two sisters Katy and Meggie Cornell. His father Mike is Director of Instruction at Champions Run in Omaha. Mike has been named top golf instructor in the state of Nebraska and the Midwest region multiple times in more than 35 years in the golf business.
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