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The 1998-99 Nebraska men's golf season would appear to be a good outing from the start.
Five seniors returned from a team that established itself as one of NU's greatest teams ever after finishing 20th in the nation in the spring of 1998.
Although Head Coach Larry Romjue knew of the talent and potential his team members possessed, Nebraska's success was perhaps surprising to some, as the Huskers emerged as one of the season's "sleeper" teams. At times during the season, Romjue may have even been surprised by the solid play of his 29th team.
In what would become the greatest season in Nebraska men's golf history, the Huskers finished 14th at the NCAA Championships, fell just two strokes short as the runner-up at the Big 12 Championships, posted a school-record third-place finish at the NCAA Central Regional and earned a school-record No. 13 ranking in the national MasterCard/GCF poll while racking up 10 top-three finishes in 14 tournaments.
"It was a great year for us," Romjue said. "We played well for most every tournament, but we would have liked to win the conference championship and perform a little better during the last day at NCAAs. Still, this team should be very proud."
NU Shines In '98 Fall Season
The Huskers set the tone for a climatic spring with a stellar fall season. In five fall tournaments, NU earned a win at the Colorado State Ram Collegiate and notched three other top-three finishes at the Falcon-Cross Creek Invitational, Duke Golf Classic and The Nelson. Nebraska's fourth-place finish at the Kansas Invitational was the lowest showing of the fall. The top Husker performer in each tournament did not finish lower than eighth, and in three of the five outings, a Husker individual finished among the top five.
As a team, the Huskers finished with a 287.5 stroke average.
Senior Steve Friesen led the Huskers during the fall with a career-best 70.9 stroke average, and was the top Husker finisher in three tournaments. Friesen fired five sub-70 rounds, including a season-low 67, and notched three top five finishes, including a six-under-par, 209-stroke victory at the Falcon-Cross Creek Invitational.
Jamie Rogers completed the first portion of the 1998-99 season with a 71.7 stroke average, which ranked second on the team. Rogers tied for first at the Colorado State Ram Collegiate and was the top Husker finisher in two of the last three tournaments. Rogers notched three top 10 finishes, and carded five sub-70 rounds, including a school-record tying 65 at the CSU Collegiate.
For a steady hand, Nebraska looked to senior Scott Gutschewski, who continued to improve and finished a solid fall with the team's third-best stroke average (71.87). Gutschewski was consistent in each tournament, finishing between sixth place and 16th place in four of the five contests. A 22nd-place finish at the Falcon-Cross Creek Invitational was Gutschewski's lowest finish of the fall.
Senior Josh Madden completed the season with a 73.3 stroke average and two sub-70 rounds after beginning the season with a top five finish at the Falcon-Cross Creek Invitational and finishing the season in a minor slump.
The fifth spot on the team rotated between three Husker athletes. Ryan Nietfeldt participated in the season-opening Falcon-Cross Creek Invitational, averaging 76.67 strokes in three rounds of play.
Freshman Seth Porter got the nod for the team's second competition, the Kansas Invitational and for the Duke Golf Classic.
Junior Judd Brewer also saw action in two meets, carding a season-low 74 at the Colorado State Ram Collegiate.
At the end of the fall season, Romjue had plenty to smile about after watching his consistent squad crack the MasterCard Collegiate Golf Rankings for the first time in NU history at No. 21.
"We had a solid fall," Romjue said. "As a coach and as players, you want to win every meet, but there are so many teams who may not be as good as you are, but are still capable of beating you on a given day. There are a lot of teams out there like that now.
"We've been pleased with how things have gone, and when spring comes around, we'll be ready to go. We have a talented team, but we still have plenty of things to improve on."
Husker Play Creates Magical, Memorable Spring
Focusing on improving the small things in each team member's game during the off-season proved to be invaluable for the spring campaign.
The Huskers didn't seem to skip a beat from the fall as they fell just one stroke short of their second tournament title of the year at the spring-opening UTSA Invitational on Feb. 22-23. All five of Nebraska's golfers finished in the top 25, but Texas-Arlington edged the defending champion Huskers, 592-593.
The Louisiana Classic two weeks later proved to be a challenge NU was up to. Again, the Huskers had a chance to win the tournament, but fell just short of their goal. Nebraska tied Florida for first place at 869 strokes, but lost to the Gators on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff.
NU's string of success continued at the Birkdale Classic, where the Huskers earned their fourth consecutive second-place finish and at the Stevinson Ranch Invitational and the Diet Pepsi Shocker Classic, where Nebraska finished third and fourth, respectively.
After completing the regular season, the 15th-ranked Huskers traveled to Hutchinson, Kan., for the Big 12 Championships at the Prairie Dunes Country Club, April 26-27.
Nebraska narrowly missed its first conference championship in 62 years, finishing two shots behind Big 12 Champion Kansas. NU's Rogers also fell just short of a conference title, finishing three rounds of play at even-par 210--one shot from the individual title.
The Huskers entered the third and final round two shots behind the Jayhawks in the team race, and things stayed tight throughout the day. NU picked up two shots on Kansas on the front nine to even the score, but Kansas played the back nine in even par to hang on for the team crown. Both teams shot a 287 on the final day of competition, with Kansas finishing three rounds at 857, with the Huskers at 859.
Rogers, who shot an even-par 70 in all three rounds, finished in a tie with Kansas' Chris Thompson for runner-up honors. Friesen tied for fourth with straight-across-the-board 71s. Rogers and Friesen each earned a spot on the Big 12 All-Tournament team, along with Madden, who finished in a tie for ninth place at 217. Gutschewski and Porter rounded out the Husker effort with 29th-place finishes.
The second-place team finish tied NU's best league showing since winning the Big Six title in 1937.
"We did a great job," Romjue said. "Sometimes people forget that second isn't all that bad when you beat the fourth (Oklahoma State and seventh (Texas) ranked teams in the nation. Two strokes is microscopic, especially in a tournament like this. Of course, we would have loved to win, but Kansas played very well."
Riding the high of the conference championship finish, Nebraska refocused its attention on qualifying for the NCAA Championships.
As a tune-up for the NCAA Central Regional, the Huskers played in the Perry Maxwell Invitational in Ardmore, Okla., May 15-16. Entering the tournament, the Huskers had not finished lower than fourth in 11 contests during the season, but Nebraska struggled to a ninth-place showing in the meet which featured eight top 25 squads in a 15-team field.
Using the Maxwell Invitational as a wake-up call, the Huskers embarked for their fourth consecutive NCAA Central Regional in Columbus, Ohio, May 18-21, to compete for a chance to play in the 1999 NCAA Championships.
Ranked 13th in the nation, Nebraska needed a top-10 finish in the 21-team regional tournament to earn a place among the 30-team national championship field.
As the fifth highest ranked team in the regional, NU struggled to a tie for 12th after the first 18 holes, but jumped into seventh after 36 holes of play. Shaving nine strokes off its first-day score, Nebraska fired a 289 in the final round to finish in third place with an 882. The third-place finish was the highest regional finish in school history and assured the Huskers of an NCAA berth in consecutive seasons for the first time ever.
The Hazeltine National Golf Club served as host for the 1999 NCAA Championships in Chaska, Minn., June 2-5. Led by Rogers, the 12th-ranked Huskers completed day one of the tournament in 15th place after carding a 301. Rogers finished the day at two-under-par with a 70 and was in a five-way tie for second place.
Despite adding four strokes to its second round score, Nebraska moved up to 11th place to make the top-15 championship cut for the second time in four NCAA appearances. Friesen shot a 71 to lead NU and jumped into a tie for 15th with Rogers in the individual standings.
In the third day of action, Madden's tee shot on the 201-yard, par-3, 13th hole was memorable not only for the Nebraska team. The senior from Gold Coast, Australia, recorded an ace on the hole, marking the first hole-in-one in a national championship tournament since 1997 and the first of Madden's collegiate career during competition. Madden finished the day with a team-best 74, but the Huskers dropped one spot in the team standings from 11th to 12th with a round of 304 after being just seven shots out of second place at one point midway through the third round.
In the final round, the Huskers struggled to a 308 stroke total and dropped to 14th in the final standings, but the team still came home as the highest-finishing NCAA team in school history. The squad of talented competitors topped 1998's 20th-place finish at the national championships.
Rogers was the high finisher for Nebraska. The native of Maroochydore, Australia, tied for 12th with a 298 for his 11th top-25 finish of the 1998-99 season. Friesen tied for 51st with a 305, Gutschewski finished in a tie for 62nd with a 307, Madden tied for 71st with a 314 and Porter notched an 82nd-place finish with 325 strokes.
"We had a rough start on the final day and couldn't recover," Romjue said. "It was disappointing not to take advantage of our position at one point in the tournament, but we've had the best year we've ever had. I am very proud of the way the team performed all season long."
While at the national championships, Friesen was awarded the prestigious Ben Hogan Trophy by the Friends of Golf Board of Directors and the Golf Coaches Association for athletic and academic excellence. Friesen was presented with a Waterford Crystal vase and the University of Nebraska received a check for $5,000 for the scholarship fund.
"This is tremendous and shocking," Friesen said. "They told me it was for the top scholar-golfer in the NCAA, and I can think of nothing nicer."
"There is no bigger honor for a college golfer, and I can think of nobody who deserves this more than Steve," Romjue said.
Friesen, a Lincoln, Neb., native, finished his career at Nebraska with three GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-America honors (3.81 cumulative grade point average in biological sciences), 18 top-10 finishes, and a personal-best 72.3 stroke average in 1998-99.
Friesen joined Rogers on the GCAA (Golf Coaches Association of America) All-America team following the national championships. Friesen was an honorable-mention, while Rogers became the first Husker in school history to earn second-team All-America honors.
No stranger to awards, Rogers became the first Husker to earn an honorable-mention All-America award in 20 years following the 1997-98 season. Perhaps NU's most talented golfer ever, Rogers played a major role in elevating the Husker program to elite status nationally.
A 1998 honorable-mention All-America pick, two-time All-Big 12 first team member and co-school record holder for a single round (65), Rogers completed his career at Nebraska with a 72.5 stroke average. In two years as a Husker, Rogers was a four-time tournament champion and had 11 additional top-10 finishes. Also a class act academically, Rogers joined teammates Friesen, Nietfeldt and Madden on the 1999 Academic All-Big 12 team.
The combination of talented, determined athletes and the focus of a 29-year head coach allowed the 1998-99 men's golf team to write their way into the history books. The team's numerous accomplishments made for Nebraska's most memorable men's golf season to date and provide each future Husker competitor with an honorable example to follow.