Huskers Shoot for Title at Chip-N Club Invite

The Nebraska women's golf team plays host to its only home tournament of the 2003-04 season next week with the Chip-N Club Invitational at Wilderness Ridge Golf Course in Lincoln. Wilderness Ridge, which is located just south of Yankee Hill Road between 14th and 27th streets, is Lincoln's newest course and is set to play at 5,933 yards (par 72) over the two-day event.

The 12-team tournament, which will include a Nebraska Red and a Nebraska White squad, also includes visitors from Creighton, Denver, Illinois State, Iowa State, Kansas State, Nevada, North Texas, Oral Roberts, Southwest Missouri State and Wichita State.

Nebraska Coach Robin Krapfl said the Huskers expect strong competition from the field.

"This year's tournament is going to give us some good competition," Krapfl said. "We hope we'll be able to shoot some low scores and have a chance to win on our home course."

Nebraska's Red squad will feature NU's top golfers, while the White team should be extremely competitive as well. Four members of the top unit have been set, but several golfers are still battling for the final spot in the lineup.

Regardless of the final lineups, Krapfl said she hopes all the Huskers put up some low scores next week.

"I want to see us shooting some low numbers because I think we need to get comfortable shooting scores at or below par," Krapfl said. "I think once you get accustomed to shooting those kinds of scores, then you start to expect it and your numbers just keep falling."

Nebraska Red and White Lineups
Nebraska's top lineup on the Red team will be led by junior Merynn Ito, sophomore Jackie Beste and true freshman Christine McArdle, who all tied for 13th place with three-round scores of 231 to lead the Huskers to a third-place team finish (920) at the nine-team Embassy Suites/Tyson Invitational in Rogers, Ark., Sept. 7-9. Senior co-captain Stephanie Schaefer, who finished in a tie for 17th in Arkansas with a 233, will also represent the Red team.  Junior Sara Sackett will occupy the fifth spot in Nebraska's lineup.  Sackett played as an individual at the Embassy Suites/Tyson Invitational and finished in a tie for 37th (79-79-83-241).  Sackett finished six strokes ahead of Husker redshirt freshman Andrea Dunagan (90-74-83-247), who held the fifth spot in Arkansas.

Dunagan will lead the White squad, along with juniors Stephanie Ruiz and Beth Anne Cherry, sophomore Chelsea Gehring and true freshman Madison Schroeder. Ruiz finished in a tie for 41st (86-79-80-245), playing as an individual in Arkansas, while Cherry tied for 50th (82-84-88-254).  Sophomore Julie Harder is expected to compete as an individual in the tournament. Gehring, Schroeder and Harder will be looking to put up solid numbers in their first tournament action of the 2003 fall campaign.

Scouting the Chip-N Club Invitational Field
The University of Nebraska plays host to the Chip-N Club Invitational at the Wilderness Ridge Golf Club, with a field that features several teams that qualified for NCAA Regional play a year ago, as well as several contenders from the Big 12 and Missouri Valley Conference.

Oral Roberts will be one of the top teams headed to Lincoln next week. The Golden Eagles finished fifth the Embassy Suites/Tyson Invitational in Rogers, Ark. ORU finished 18 strokes behind Nebraska after shooting a 938 over three rounds. Amanda Fisher produced rounds of 74, 75 and 81 to finish with a 230 in 11th place to pace the Golden Eagles. Last season, ORU finished 20th in the West Regional and featured 2003 Mid-Continent Conference Player of the Year Candice Satow, who shot 237 in Arkansas to finish in a tie for 26th.

Nevada also qualified for NCAA Regional play last season, finishing in 18th place at the West Regional, just ahead of Oral Roberts. The Wolf Pack is coming off a strong third-place showing at the Ptarmigan/Ram Fall Classic (Sept. 7-9). Senior Alana Condon (69-73-75-217) led Nevada by tying for fourth place at the 16-team tournament. Erin LaPlaunt (73-73-75-223) added a tie for 11th, while Chandeni Gill (76-72-77-225) finished in a tie for 20th.

Denver finished four strokes behind Nevada at the Ptarmigan/Ram Fall Classic to finish in fourth place with an 895. The Pioneers' team score was a school record over 54 holes. A pair of Pioneers produced top-10 finishes, led by Kate Waggoner's third-place showing (69-75-72-216) and Jennie Peek's tie for ninth (69-78-75-222). Denver finished ahead of Nevada in a tie for 16th at the 2003 NCAA West Regional.

Iowa State and Kansas State will join the Huskers in representing the Big 12 Conference at this year's tournament. Iowa State finished ninth as a team at the 2003 Big 12 Championships, and added a seventh-place showing at the Embassy Suites/Tyson Invitational earlier this week. The Cyclones came in 27 strokes behind the Huskers with a three-round score of 947.

Illinois State, Southwest Missouri State, Wichita State and Creighton will represent the Missouri Valley Conference. Illinois State took second at the MVC Championships a year ago, while SMS finished fifth, Creighton sixth and Wichita State seventh.

Experienced Huskers Hope to Improve in 2003-04
Nebraska returns seven letterwinners from last year's squad that finished 22nd at the NCAA Championships. NU lost just one letterwinner, but that one golfer will be tough for the Huskers to replace. Sarah Sasse ended a brilliant career in May by earning Nebraska's first-ever first-team All-America award in women's golf. She was also the 2003 Big 12 Golfer of the Year.

Despite the loss of Sasse, Krapfl is confident that the Huskers have the potential to be even better than last year's squad.

"I think this might be the deepest team we have had in my time at Nebraska," Krapfl said. "I think all of our players have the ability to put up some low scores for us and potentially make us a better team than a year ago."

Senior captain Stephanie Schaefer is expected to lead the Huskers on and off the course this season. Schaefer produced an 80.28 stroke average last season, but produced the top scores for Nebraska during four rounds of fall qualifying. Schaefer notched a trio of top 25 performances last season, including a tie for 25th at the Big 12 Championships.

Junior Merynn Ito was a solid No. 2 player for the Huskers last season. Ito boasts Nebraska's top returning stroke average (77.64) from last season, when she finished among the top 20 individuals in seven tournaments.

Three other of Nebraska's top six golfers also return from last season, including junior Stephanie Ruiz. Ruiz was a solid No. 3 for the Huskers last season, posting a 79.28 stroke average while adding a pair of top 25 individual finishes. Ruiz was also NU's No. 2 finisher at the 2003 NCAA Championships, where she finished in a tie for 88th place, trailing only Sasse's 40th-place finish.

Junior Beth Anne Cherry and sophomore Jackie Beste split time at the No. 5 spot for the Huskers last season. Beste's stroke average of 82.39 over 23 rounds was slightly better than Cherry's 84.09 average over 33 rounds. However, Cherry helped the Huskers qualify for the NCAA Championships by tying for 81st at the 21-team NCAA Central Regional, before adding a 126th-place finish at the 24-team NCAA Championships.

Beste represented the Huskers at the Big 12 Championships and helped NU to a fifth-place team finish with her 41st-place individual showing. She has turned her level of play up a notch this fall, capturing the No. 2 spot in the lineup during fall qualifying.

Sophomores Chelsea Gehring and Julie Harder round out the list of seven returning letterwinners for the Huskers. Gehring and Harder both played three rounds of golf for NU last season at the Chip-N Club Invitational. Harder owned an 84.67 stroke average, while Gehring's was 86.67.