Thiele Leads after Day 2 at Nebraska Amateur

Husker Lindsey Thiele produced a solid round of 73 (+1) on Tuesday to take sole possession of the top spot on the leaderboard heading into the final round of the 46th Nebraska Women’s Amateur at the Country Club of Lincoln.

Thiele, a freshman-to-be from Wahoo, owns a two-stroke lead over Husker teammate Nicole Hansen (Bloomingdale, Ill.), who carded a 75 (+3) after opening the tournament with a one-under-par 71 on Monday. Thiele, who also fired an opening-round 71, heads to Wednesday’s final round at 144 (E), while Hansen and South Dakota freshman-to-be Danica Badura (Aurora) are tied for second at 146 (+2).

Former Husker All-American and five-time Nebraska Women’s Amateur champion Sarah Sasse-Kildow (Lincoln) closed the gap on the leaders with an even-par 72 on Tuesday to sit in sole possession of fourth place at 147 (+3), just three strokes back of Thiele. Sasse-Kildow, who won her last Nebraska Women’s Amateur title in 2002, led the Huskers to a 22nd-place finish at the 2003 NCAA Championships. She won state women’s amateur titles in 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2002.

Current Husker Kirsten Baete (Beatrice) carded a two-over-par 74 for the second straight day to sit alone in fifth at 148 (+4).

Husker seniors-to-be Hannah Thiele (Wahoo) and Noor Ahmed (Folsom, Calif.) both produced solid rounds of 74 on Tuesday to climb into the top 10 on the leaderboard in a tie for ninth at 153 (+9). Hannah Thiele was the 2016 Nebraska Women’s Amateur champion. Another current Husker, Jessica Haraden (Thousand Oaks, Calif.), sits just outside the top 10 in a tie for 11th at 155 (+11), along with former Husker Stephanie Kolbas (Lincoln). Kolbas (formerly Flood) was a four-year letterwinner at Nebraska (1991-94), leading the Huskers to the 1994 NCAA West Regional. She was also the 2005 and 2007 Nebraska Women’s Amateur champion.

Kolbas and Haraden own a one-shot lead over current Husker Megan Whittaker (Elkhorn), who bounced back from an opening-round 83 with one of Tuesday’s best rounds of 73. Whittaker heads to the final round in a tie for 14th at 156 (+12). Whittaker’s mother, Kim (Lefler), was a teammate of Kolbas’ on Nebraska’s 1994 NCAA West Regional-qualifying team. A third member of NU’s 1994 regional qualifiers, Heidi Stark (Lincoln), is tied for 34th at 165 (+21). Stark, was a CoSIDA Academic All-American and the Nebraska Women’s Amateur champion in 1996, after leading the Big Red to regional bids in 1995 and 1996. She also competed as an individual at the 1996 NCAA Championship.

Former Husker Haley Thiele (Wahoo), the older sister of Lindsey and Hannah, also moved up the leaderboard with a 78 on Tuesday to enter the final round in a tie for 23rd at 161 (+17). Haley Thiele, who completed her fifth season as a Husker in 2019-20, is the defending Nebraska Women’s Amateur champion. She also won the title in 2017, a year after Hannah won the family’s first state women’s amateur championship in 2016.

More Nebraska Women’s Golf News

Kate Smith continues to represent Nebraska at the 120th U.S. Women’s Amateur in Rockville, Md. Smith completed an even-par 72 in the opening round on Monday. Tuesday’s scheduled second round was postponed to Wednesday because of rain. Smith heads to the second round in a tie for 15th in the 132-player field.