Huskers Set for Big Ten Championship

The 14-team conference field will be challenged by a 6,045-yard, par-71 layout in Pennsylvania. Action tees off with the opening round on Friday, April 21 at 7:30 a.m. (CT), before Saturday’s second round also gets underway at 7:30 a.m. (CT). Sunday’s final round is set for a 7 a.m. (CT) start.

No. 13 Northwestern enters the tournament as the favorite, while No. 30 Ohio State, No. 33 Maryland, No. 35 Michigan State, No. 37 Michigan, No. 43 Purdue and No. 48 Nebraska put seven Big Ten teams among the top 50 in the Golfweek national rankings.

Live scoring for the six-count-four tournament will be available through GolfStat.com.

True freshman Kelli Ann Strand (Challis, Idaho) continues to lead Nebraska with a team-best 71.72 stroke average, which is on pace for a school record. She owns six top-10 finishes and 18 rounds better than par this season. She heads to the Big Ten Championship ranked among the top 115 players nationally by both Golfweek and GolfStat. 

Graduate student Megan Whittaker expects to compete in her fourth and final Big Ten Championship. Whittaker tied for 18th at the 2021 conference tournament, before adding a tie for 33rd at last year’s event. Whittaker owns a career-best 73.14 stroke average this season, which has helped her to top 250 national rankings in both Golfweek and GolfStat. She owns five top-20 showings on the year. 

Miu Takahashi has matched Whittaker’s stroke average with an identical 73.14 average over 32.5 rounds. Takahashi won the Dale McNamara individual title and owns four top-10 finishes on the year. The sophomore from Nasu-Machi, Japan is ranked among the top 250 players in NCAA Division I by Golfweek. 

Juniors Lindsey Thiele (74.62), Michaela Vavrova (75.53) and Andrea Velez (76.77) round out Nebraska’s six-count-four lineup at the Lady Buckeye. Vavrova will be making her third appearance at the Big Ten Championship including a tie for 17th at last year’s tournament. She also tied for 33rd to help the Big Red to a runner-up team finish in 2021.

Thiele will be playing at the conference tournament for the second time, joining an appearance as a freshman in 2021.

Velez will be making her first championship appearance after taking second among the Huskers at the Lady Buckeye Invitational.

Big Ten Championship

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Fox Chapel Golf Club (Par 71/6,045 Yards)

Schedule

Friday, April 21 (Round 1): 7:30 a.m. (CT) (Tee Times)

Saturday, April 22 (Round 2): 7:30 a.m. (CT) (Tee Times)

Sunday, April 23 (Round 3): 7 a.m. (CT) (Tee Times)

Live Scoring: GolfStat.com

14 Participating Teams (Golfweek Rankings)     

Northwestern (13)

Ohio State (30)

Maryland (33)

Michigan State (35)

Michigan (37)

Purdue (43)

Nebraska (48)

Illinois (56)

Minnesota (59)

Penn State (64)

Wisconsin (86)

Rutgers (105)

Iowa (107)

Indiana (122)

Nebraska Lineup (6-count-4)

1. Kelli Ann Strand 

2. Miu Takahashi

3. Megan Whittaker

4. Lindsey Thiele

5. Michaela Vavrova 

6. Andrea Velez

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 71.72 stroke average over 32.5 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. 108 nationally by Golfweek and No. 114 by GolfStat.

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 notched top-35 finishes in 18 consecutive 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 73.14 stroke average over 32.5 rounds this season  and is ranked No. 229 by GolfStat and No. 242 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.

Huskers in National Polls

Nebraska entered the top 25 in 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. 48 by Golfweek (April 19). Freshman Kelli Ann Strand heads to Pennsylvania ranked No. 108 by Golfweek, while sophomore Miu Takahashi (241) and graduate student Megan Whittaker (242) rank among the top 250 golfers in the nation. Huskers in The National Polls

Nebraska entered the top 25 in 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. 48 by Golfweek (April 19). Freshman Kelli Ann Strand heads to Pennsylvania ranked No. 108 by Golfweek, while sophomore Miu Takahashi (241) and graduate student Megan Whittaker (242) rank among the top 250 golfers in the nation. 

Huskers Honor Daegan Page with Folds of Honor Bag

The Nebraska women’s golf team is honoring Marine Corporal Daegan Page from Omaha as part of the Folds of Honor Military Tribute Program during the spring of 2023.

Page, who was one of 13 service men and women killed in action while helping to evacuate people from the Kabul Airport in Afghanistan on Aug. 26, 2021, has his name, rank and branch of service displayed on a Husker women’s golf bag this season.

Megan Whittaker, a graduate student from Elkhorn, Neb., proudly carried the bag in Page’s honor in Nebraska’s first spring tournament as part of a nationwide program sponsored by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) and the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA). Kelli Ann Strand carried it during Nebraska’s run to the Westbrook Spring Invitational title in Arizona, while Michaela Vavrova carried the honor bag at the Briar’s Creek Invitational.

Folds of Honor is a preferred charitable partner of the WGCA and the GCAA, and the groups work together to ensure that no family is left behind in the fight to preserve American freedom. Through scholarships and other assistance, they give back to the spouses and children of soldiers killed or disabled in service to our country.

Daegan William-Tyeler Page would have celebrated his 25th birthday on Feb. 6, 2023, when the Husker women’s golf team opens its spring season at the FAU Paradise Invitational in Boca Raton, Fla., on Monday. He was born in Red Oak, Iowa and moved to Omaha at age 5. He was an avid hockey player, competing for the state champion Westside Warriors, before graduating from Millard South High School in 2016. Page also loved skateboarding, the outdoors and animals.

Cpl. Page was a rifleman in 1st Platoon, Company G, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment. To learn more about Daegan Page, or to help others “Live the Dae Way” visit the Cpl. Daegan Page Foundation website at daeganpage.org.