The Nebraska men’s golf team hopes to hit the links hungry for the 2021 spring season after being knocked off the course by the worldwide outbreak of COVID-19 in mid-March of 2020.
The virus also prevented the Huskers from playing with a team lineup in tournaments during the fall, but it did not stop third-year Coach Mark Hankins from helping Nebraska golfers take major steps forward during the summer.
Nebraska’s individual stroke average leader the past two seasons, graduate student Tanner Owen returns for a fifth season after being granted an additional year of eligibility along with other NCAA golfers because of the pandemic.
In 2018-19, Owen posted a 72.86 average and tied for 16th at the Big Ten Championships, before posting a 75.46 average over half a regular season in 2019-20. While Owen will be the most experienced and accomplished Husker, he will have to compete for lineup time with a deep roster filled with talented Nebraska golfers.
Senior Mark Foelbaek, who was an NJCAA All-American in 2019 before transferring to Nebraska, had an outstanding summer and fall after adjusting to NCAA Division I competition as a junior in 2019-20. Foelbaek won the Nebraska Open (Sept. 11-13) at Elks Country Club in Columbus with a 204 (-12) with rounds of 69-68-67.
Another junior college All-American, Tom Westenberger, added a tie for fourth at the Nebraska Open with a 206 (-10) over three rounds. Foelbaek and Westenberger continued to perform well during the fall, as did junior Caleb Badura, who added a tie for ninth at the Nebraska Open with a 209 (-7).
All three transfers were significant contributors in a shortened 2019-20 season, including Badura’s history-making 4-0 record at the 2020 Big Ten Match Play Championships. All three took their games to higher levels in the fall.
Meanwhile, NJCAA All-American Branden Meyer, who held Nebraska’s No. 2 stroke average (75.53) and joined Owen in the Husker lineup for all 15 rounds last year, has continued to improve.
Those five returning golfers would give Hankins and the Huskers plenty of reasons for optimism, but Nebraska’s real boost in competition comes from another set of new golfers to the roster.
Freshman Jack Lundin, who was a two-time high school state champion and the South Dakota Men’s Amateur Champion in 2019, tied for seventh at the Nebraska Open with a 208 (-8) and was one of five Huskers to lead the tournament field at some point in the event.
Freshman Gentry Scheve (Emporia, Kan.) led the Nebraska Open entering the final day after posting rounds of 68 and 67 to head to last 18 holes at 9-under par.
A third freshman, Jeremy Sisson (Skaneateles, N.Y.) added NU’s best individual round at the Nebraska Open with a final-round 66 (-6), while sophomore Will Marshall (Elburn, Ill.) was one of six Huskers to finish in the top 12 in Columbus. Marshall, who held Nebraska’s No. 4 stroke average at 76.50 over six rounds as a true freshman, fired a 210 (-6) at the Nebraska Open and joined Lundin, Scheve, Westenberger and Foelbaek atop the leaderboard at one point during the tourney.
Seniors Daniel Pearson and junior Tristan Nelko along with freshmen Will Harding and Reed Malleck round out the Nebraska roster heading into 2021.
The Huskers are scheduled to open the spring with the Big Red Alumni Invite at TPC Sawgrass in Jacksonville, Fla. (Jan. 30). The Huskers will use the weekend in Jacksonville to help prepare for the Big Ten Match Play Championship at Hammock Beach Resort in Palm Coast, Fla. (Feb. 5-6). The Huskers have finished in the top four at the Big Ten Match Play in each of the past two seasons.
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