Husker Golfers to Enter Halls of Fame

Three representatives of the Nebraska women’s golf program will earn high honors next week with multiple inductions into statewide Halls of Fame.

Elizabeth (Bahensky) Schott will be honored with induction into both the Nebraska Golf Hall of Fame and the Nebraska High School Sports Hall of Fame to close September, beginning with the 24th annual Nebraska Golf Hall of Fame Awards and Golf Event at Hillcrest Country Club in Lincoln on Monday, Sept. 20.

A star for some of Nebraska’s best teams, Schott owns six NU NCAA Tournament records, including the best single round (68) and final score (301, 4 rounds), which she set on her way to a 25th-place individual finish at the 2000 NCAA Championships. She lettered for the Huskers from 1997 to 2000, and was Nebraska’s No. 2 finisher as a freshman at the 1997 NCAA West Regional.

Schott was the Nebraska Women’s Amateur Stroke Play Champion in 1999, while claiming Nebraska Women’s Match Play titles in 1997, 1999 and 2000. Her sweep of the state stroke play and match play crowns led her to being named the Nebraska Women’s Amateur Golf Association (NWAGA) Player of the Year in 1999. 

The Kearney High School graduate was a two-time Class A state high school champion while leading the Bearcats to four consecutive state team titles. She will cap her Hall of Fame week with induction into the Nebraska High School Sports Hall of Fame on Sunday, Sept. 26 at Lincoln East High School. Schott will be joined in the state high school hall of fame class by former Huskers across several sports including Dani (Busboom) Kelly (volleyball), Molly Hill (softball), Kurt Mann (football), Zach Potter (football), Dennis Thorell (football), Meredy Porter-Smith (track & field), Sammie (Resh) Gdowski (track & field/cross country) and Bruce Chubick Jr. (Basketball)

Schott will also be joined by fellow Huskers in her induction into the Nebraska Golf Hall of Fame. Stephanie (Flood) Kolbas, who was a three-time Nebraska’s women’s amateur state champion, came to Nebraska from Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. Kolbas was a member of NU’s first NCAA Regional-qualifying team in 1994. She earned All-Big Eight honors as a true freshman after finishing fifth at the 1991 Big Eight Championships. A standout in the classroom as well, she was a three-time NGCA Scholastic All-American and a three-time Academic All-Big Eight choice for the Big Red. A long-time coach at Lincoln Pius X School, Schott is also heavily involved in the U.S. Kids Golf program.

As an amateur golfer, Kolbas won Nebraska Women’s Amateur Stroke Play Championships in 2005 and 2007 after capturing the Nebraska Women’s Match Play Championship in 1998. She also qualified for the 1999 U.S. Women’s Open.

Kolbas and Schott will be joined in the Nebraska Golf Hall of Fame 2021 class by NU’s first head women’s golf coach, Larry Romjue, who will be inducted posthumously. Romjue guided the program to a successful start in its first four seasons from 1975-76 through 1978-79. He led the Husker women to the Big Eight title in 1975-76 to qualify for the 1976 AIAW Championships. The Huskers also finished second at the 1977 AIAW Region Six meet.

Romjue went on to spend 31 seasons as the Nebraksa’s men’s golf coach, retiring in 2001. He guided the Husker men to four top-20 NCAA Tournament finishes, beginning with an 18th-place showing in 1973, when his Huskers were also the Big Eight runner-up. Nebraska added a 20th-place NCAA finish and a second-place Big Eight performance in 1978. Romjue was at the helm of the best Husker men’s team in 1999, when the Big 12 runner-up Huskers finished 14th at the NCAA Championships after a third-place NCAA Regional finish. It followed on the heels of a 20th-place NCAA finish in 1998.

Romjue was a three-time letterwinner at Nebraska as a men’s golfer from 1958 to 1960. He became Nebraska’s head coach for men’s golf in 1970-71 and continued through the 2000-01 campaign. Romjue was the Nebraska PGA Professional of the Year in 1984 and the Nebraska PGA Section Player of the Year in 1980. He also served as the Vice President of the Nebraska Golf Association in 2016. He remained an active member of the Lincoln and Nebraska golf communities until his passing in 2019.