Huskers Face Loaded Field in Arizona

The Nebraska women’s golf team will take on its strongest field of the season to date when the Huskers travel to Arizona for the Mountain View Collegiate (March 17-19).

The Big Red will be part of a 17-team field that features 16 GolfStat Top 100 teams, including No. 6 San Jose State, No. 23 Ohio State, No. 26 Iowa State, No. 34 Arkansas, No. 36 Houston, No. 37 TCU, No. 41 New Mexico, No. 42 Tulsa and No. 44 North Texas among the nine teams ranked ahead of No. 49 Nebraska. No. 50 North Carolina rounds out the 11 teams ranked among the top 50 in the nation, while No. 54 UNLV, No. 79 Wisconsin, No. 84 Missouri, No. 88 New Mexico State and No. 89 Kansas State add more strong depth to a field that also includes No. 128 Southern Miss.

The Huskers will arrive in Tucson on Wednesday with practice rounds available at the Mountain View Golf Course on Thursday, March 16, before the tournament begins with tee times off No. 1 and No. 10 at 10 a.m. (CT) on Friday, March 17. After a single round on St. Patrick’s Day, the second round will follow the same format on Saturday, before the tournament concludes with a 9:45 a.m. (CT) shotgun start for the final round on Sunday. Live scoring will be available through GolfStat.com.

True freshman Kelli Ann Strand (Challis, Idaho) continues to lead Nebraska with a team-best 71.62 stroke average after earning her sixth top-20 finish of the season with her tie for 18th at the Briar’s Creek Invitational in South Carolina (March 13-14). Her stroke average has her on school-record pace, and she heads to Arizona ranked No. 97 nationally by Golfweek. 

Miu Takahashi joined Strand in a tie for 18th at Briar’s Creek. The sophomore from Nasu-Machi, Japan has trimmed her stroke average to 72.60 to trail only Strand among the Huskers, while ranking among the top 200 players in Division I according to GolfStat (169) and Golfweek (185). She owns four top-10 finishes on the year including a tournament title at the Dale McNamara Invitational in Oklahoma (Oct. 10-11).

Graduate student Megan Whittaker continues to be the model of consistency in the Husker lineup with eight top-30 finishes in eight tournaments on the year, including her tie for 11th with a three-under-par 213 (70-71-72) at the Westbrook Invite in Nebraska’s last trip to Arizona (Feb. 26-27). Whittaker owns a career-best 72.72 stroke average, which has helped her to a No. 184 ranking by GolfStat and No. 188 from Golfweek. She owns five top-20 showings on the year. Juniors Lindsey Thiele and Michaela Vavrova round out Nebraska’s five-count-four lineup at the Mountain View Collegiate.

Mountain View Collegiate

Hosts: Kansas State & Missouri

Tucson, Arizona

Mountain View GC (Par 72 / 6,352 Yards)

Schedule

Friday, March 17 (Round 1) – 10 a.m. (CT) [Tee Times]

Saturday, March 18 (Round 2) – 10 a.m. (CT) [Tee Times]

Sunday, March 19 (Round 3) – 9:45 a.m. (CT) [Shotgun]

Live Scoring: GolfStat.com

Participating Teams (GolfStat National Rankings)     

1. Arkansas (34)

2. Houston (36)

3. Iowa State (26)

4. Kansas State (89)

5. Missouri (84)

6. Nebraska (49)

7. New Mexico (41)

8. New Mexico State (88)

9. North Carolina (50)

10. North Texas (44)

11. Ohio State (23)

12. San Jose State (6)

13. Southern Miss (128)

14. TCU (37)

15. Tulsa (42)

16. UNLV (54)

17. Wisconsin (79)

Nebraska Lineup

1. Kelli Ann Strand 

2. Miu Takahashi 

3. Megan Whittaker

4. Michaela Vavrova 

5. Lindsey Thiele

IND – Andrea Velez

Huskers in National Rankings

Nebraska entered the national rankings for the first time in many years when the Huskers came in at No. 19 in the Golfweek rankings (Sept. 22). The Huskers also entered the Mizuno WGCA Coaches Poll at No. 20 (Sept. 23). Following a runner-up finish at the Dale McNamara Invitational, the Huskers remained in the top 25 at No. 23 in Golfweek (Oct. 13), while ranking No. 28 in the Mizuno WGCA Coaches Poll (Oct. 14). 

Nebraska is No. 36 by Golfweek (March 13) and No. 49 according to GolfStat (March 15). Freshman Kelli Ann Strand heads to Arizona ranked No. 97 individually by Golfweek, while sophomore Miu Takahashi (185) and  graduate student Megan Whittaker (188) join Strand among the top 200 golfers in the nation. Junior Lindsey Thiele (366) and Michaela Vavrova (461) round out Nebraska’s top five.

Freshman Strand Makes Instant Impact for Big Red

Kelli Ann Strand made a record-setting debut on her way to a title at the Green Wave Classic in New Orleans (Sept. 12-13).

Strand, a three-time Idaho state champion who was ranked among the top-310 players in the world (WAGR 308) before arriving at Nebraska, set the Husker freshman record with a second-round 65 (-7) while tying the NU record for best 54-hole tournament score with a 202 (-14) at the Bayou Oaks South Course. Strand’s performance included a school freshman record 65 (-7) in the second round. The true freshman from Challis, Idaho, fired a 29 (-7) over the back nine in the second round before opening the third round with a 31 (-5) on the front nine, carding a 60 (-12) over those consecutive 18 holes splitting two rounds. The NCAA record for best round of women’s golf is 61. Strand also was named the Big Ten Golfer of the Week (Sept. 15).

Strand, who earned her second straight Idaho Golf Association Women’s Player of the Year award in December of 2022, won the Idaho Women’s Match Play title. She added a runner-up finish at the Idaho Women’s Amateur. She was also the runner-up at the Girls Junior Americas Cup (July 24-28) for the second straight year with a three-round total of 205 (-11). She captured third at the IMG Academy Junior World Championship (July 12-15) with a four-round total of 280 (-8), which came before competing at the U.S. Girls Junior Amateur in Kentucky (July 18-23), where she advanced to Match Play before finishing in a tie for 33rd.

Strand earned the No. 1 position in Nebraska’s lineup for the season-opening Green Wave Classic by winning Nebraska’s competitive qualifying rounds in advance of the tournament. 

She leads Nebraska with a 71.62 stroke average over 23.5 rounds, which is on pace to shatter the school freshman record  (73.90) and the overall school season record (72.18) – both held by All-American Kate Smith.

Strand is ranked No. 97 nationally by Golfweek and No. 114 by GolfStat.

Takahashi Takes Title, Huskers Finish Second at Dale McNamara Invite

Miu Takahashi won her first college title to lead Nebraska to a runner-up finish at the Dale McNamara Invitational in Broken Arrow, Okla., Oct. 10-11. Her one-stroke win came with a then-career-best 213 (-3), including a final-round 69 (-3).

Kelli Ann Strand added her third consecutive top-five finish to open her career, tying for third at 215 (-1), including a final-round 69 of her own. Michaela Vavrova contributed a 70 (-2) in the final round to surge into a tie for 22nd, while Megan Whittaker added a tie for 22nd as well with a three-round total of 223. Lindsey Thiele also pitched in a 70 in the final round to tie for 30th (226) in a 75-player field in Oklahoma.

The Huskers closed the 54-hole tournament with an 869 (+5) team score, just one stroke back of the team champions from Tulsa. Nebraska’s final-round 280 (-8) was the best 18-hole score of any team in the tournament.

Whittaker Back for Fifth Year to Lead Huskers in Big Ten

A hard-working golfer who has shown impressive improvement throughout her five collegiate seasons, Megan Whittaker returns to lead Nebraska in the hunt for an NCAA Regional bid in 2022-23. The graduate student from Elkhorn, Neb., produced Nebraska’s No. 2 stroke average (74.04) in 2021-22, just missing an individual NCAA Regional bid. She trailed only NCAA Regional qualifier Kirsten Baete (73.94) among the Huskers.

Whittaker opened her fifth season as a Husker with a career-best 207 (-9) to take sixth at the Green Wave Classic. It followed a big summer for Whittaker that included a sweep of the Nebraska women’s match play and stroke play championships and a berth in the U.S. Women’s Amateur.

Whittaker also joined teammates Michaela Vavrova and Kelli Ann Strand as Big Ten Golfers to Watch heading into the 2022-23 season. Whittaker produced the first two top-10 individual finishes of her career while matching Baete and Vanessa Bouvet for the team lead with seven top-25 finishes last year.

In fact, Whittaker has notched top-25 finishes in 13 of her last 16 collegiate tournaments, including a tie for 11th with a 213 (-3) at the Westbrook Spring Invitational (Feb. 26-27).

Whittaker has produced a career-best 72.72 stroke average over 23.5 rounds this season  and is ranked No. 184 by GolfStat and No. 188 by Golfweek.

A star in the classroom and the community, Whittaker earned her bachelor’s degree in finance in May of 2022. She is a four-time WGCA Scholastic All-American, a three-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and a three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection. In the community, she earned a prestigious Sam Foltz 27 Hero Leadership Award at Nebraska in 2021. She was also Nebraska’s 2021 Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winner for women’s golf.

Whittaker’s ties to Nebraska women’s golf are very strong, as her mother Kim (Lefler) lettered as a golfer for the Huskers from 1991 to 1994, helping Nebraska advance to the 1994 NCAA West Regional as a senior.