Nebraska Takes Aim at Big 12 Championships

Lincoln -- Coming off nearly a four-week break tournament action, the Nebraska women's golf team is hungry to get back into the swing of competition at the Big 12 Championships held Friday-Sunday, April 23-25, at the 6,242-yard, par-72 Pebble Creek Country Club, in College Station, Texas.

The tournament will consist of three rounds, one played each day for a total of 54 holes. A shot gun start at 8 a.m. central time has been set for all three days of competition. Nebraska has been paired in group four along with Oklahoma and Kansas State for the first day of action on Friday, April 23.

Nebraska produced last year's individual tournament champion, Sarah Sasse, while Oklahoma State took the team title. Overall, the Huskers finished fifth at the 2003 conference championships with a three-round score of 912.

According to Head Coach Robin Krapfl the Huskers will send a solid lineup to College Station.

"I feel very good heading into the championship," Krapfl said. "I know that we have a lineup of five solid players who have worked hard and done everything they can to be ready to compete."

Although the Huskers have not posted any first-place finishes this spring, Nebraska proved it is a tournament contender at the Mountain View Collegiate, March 27-28.

"Top to bottom the Big 12 is tough," Krapfl said. "On any given day any of the 12 teams can have the low score for that round. The key is to put three solid rounds together. I think my team proved to themselves what they are capable of shooting with their 293 in Tucson."

Nebraska's sixth-place finish came in front of three of four Big 12 teams that competed at the Mountain View Collegiate, including seventh-place Kansas, 11th-place Kansas State and 14th-place Colorado. Iowa State finished second with a three-round tally of 902, just seven strokes lower than the Huskers' score of 909.Eight of the Big 12 teams are ranked in the top 50 of the April 19 GolfWeek Ratings. Leading the conference is No. 8 Oklahoma State, followed by No. 15 Texas and No. 17 Oklahoma to round out the top 20. The remaining top-50 teams are No. 26 Missouri, No. 35 Texas A&M, No. 39 Baylor, No. 44 Kansas State and No. 46 Texas Tech. Nebraska is just outside of the top 50 at No. 58.

At the top of the lineup is team captain Stephanie Schaefer. The senior leads the team with a 76.83 stroke average and is tied for 20th in the Big 12 standings. Schaefer's top performance came at the Shootout at the Legends, where she shot a one-under par in the second round to help her tie for 20th with a three-round total of 223. She shot her lowest round of the season with a 69 at the Chip-N Club Invitational to finish third. Schaefer has two top-10 and five top-20 finishes.

Second in the lineup is junior Merynn Ito who is second on the team and 27th in the conference with a stroke average of 77.10. The Hawaiian had her best outing at the Chip-N Club Invitational with a three-round score of 223. Ito also shot a season-low 72 in the first round to finish in second place and help Nebraska keep the tournament title at home. She has finished in the top 10 on three occasions and produced top-20 finshes four times this season.Jackie Beste will play in the No. 3 position in the lineup. She ranks 42nd in the Big 12 with a 78.40 stroke average. The sophomore is coming off her best performance this season. Beste fired her lowest three-round score of the year with a 226, including a season-low round of 73 at the Mountain View Collegiate for a tie for 21st place with teammate Stephanie Schaefer. Beste owns one top-10 finish and three top-20 finishes.

Freshman Christine McArdle has been solid all season long and will start in her ninth tournament of her collegiate carerr. She is sixth on the team with a stroke average of 79.52. The Minnesotan has twice finished in the top 10, and McArdle's three-round socre of 221 at the adidas Fall Classic was the team's top performance of the year. Her third-round score of 72 at the tournament marked her lowest round of the season.Sara Sackett rounds out the lineup in the No. 5 spot. The sophomore is ranked fourth on the team and 54th in the conference with a 79.29 stroke average. The Big 12 Championships will mark the third tournament Sackett has played in this spring. In her last outing, Sackett recorded a season-low 74 in the third round at the Mountain View Collegiate. The tournament was a personal best when she tallied a three-round score of 231. The Nebraska native has had one top-10 finish and two top-20 finishes.

Three Huskers return to Big 12 Championships
Nebraska's lineup will consist of three Huskers who participated in the 2003 Big 12 Championships, including Stephanie Schaefer, Merynn Ito and Jackie Beste. Ito finished second on the team at 11th place, behind tournament champion and teammate Sarah Sasse, with a three-round score of 230. Schaefer finished 25th overall with a three-round total of 240, while Beste finished with a three-round score of 243 at 41st place in her rookie campaign.

Scouting the Pebble Creek Country Club
Designed to blend with the natural surroundings, the Pebble Creek Country Club has soft rolling hills, giant trees and winding creeks. Water is a factor on 12 holes. The challenging course gave Pebble Creek Country Club the honor to be the only course to host the men's and women's Southwest Conference Championship tournament. The competition course has three championship nines available, allowing 9, 18 or 27 holes.

Huskers Post Best Finish at Mountain View Collegiate
For the first time in the 2004 spring season, the Nebraska women’s golf team placed in the top 10, finishing in sixth place with a three-round score of 909 at the Mountain View Collegiate on Sunday, March 28. The Huskers have finished in the top 10 seven out of 10 times in the 2003-04 season.

"We continued to hit the ball more," Head Coach Robin Krapfl said. "We made a lot of progress this weekend."

Senior Stephanie Schaefer and sophomore Jackie Beste tied for 21st to lead the Huskers. Beste improved her top performance of the season by a stroke with her three-round total of 226 (78-73-75). She lowered her season low round by one stroke with her second round of 73 at the tournament.

Sophomore Sara Sackett broke two personal records at the Mountain View Collegiate. She swung a season-low 74 in round two and a dropped her top performance by two strokes for a three-round total of 231 (77-74-80).

Nebraska recorded a season low of 293 in the second round, surpassing the previous mark of 297 set at the Chip-N Club Invitational last fall.

The Huskers shot a team score of 309, the third-lowest round of the spring in the third round despite battling the elements, Nebraska’s best round of the spring season prior to the Mountain View Collegiate was a 306 in the first round of the Central District Invitational on Feb. 23-24.

Junior Merynn Ito placed 28th (78-73-77-228), her best finish this spring. Freshman Christine McArdle finished in 46th place (76-76-80) and cut her 82nd finish from the Spartan Invitational almost in half.

Taking the tournament title was Denver with a three-round score of 894. The Pioneers finished 15 strokes ahead of Nebraska and eight strokes away from second-place finishers Iowa State and Colorado State (902). The individual tournament title went to Kim Welch of Washington State, who finished with a three-round score of two-under, par 214.

Five Huskers Earn Big 12 Academic Honors
A conference-leading five Nebraska women’s golfers earned first-team academic All-Big 12 honors when the league office announced the academic teams on Tuesday, April 20.

Senior Stephanie Schaefer, juniors Merynn Ito and Stephanie Ruiz and sophomores Jackie Beste and Sara Sackett all claimed spots on the academic All-Big 12 first team by maintaining a 3.20 or better grade-point average during the previous semester or cumulatively, while participating in 60 percent of the Huskers’ scheduled competitions during the 2003-04 season.

Schaefer carries a 3.552 cumulative grade-point average as a Spanish/Coaching major. Ito carries a 3.567 GPA as a news-editorial major, while Ruiz owns a 3.009 GPA as a communication studies major. Schaefer, Ito and Ruiz all claimed the second first-team academic All-Big 12 awards of their careers after all three earned spots on the 2003 team.

Beste has maintained a 3.88 grade-point average as an accounting major, while Sackett has earned back-to-back spots on the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll as an elementary education/early childhood education major.

The five Huskers led a contingent of 36 golfers who earned first-team academic All-Big 12 honors, while nine more student-athletes claimed second-team academic All-Big 12 accolades. Iowa State, Kansas State, Missouri and Texas A&M each placed four student-athletes on the first-team, while Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma each added three first-team All-Big 12 honorees.

The Big 12 in the Ratings & Rankings
GolfWeek Ratings (As of April 19)
8. Oklahoma State
15. Texas
17. Oklahoma
26. Missouri
35. Texas A&M
39. Baylor
44. Kansas State
46. Texas Tech
58. Nebraska
66. Kansas
87. Iowa State
90. Colorado

GolfStat Statistical Rankings (As of April 20)
7. Oklahoma State
12. Texas
13. Oklahoma
27. Missouri
36. Texas A&M
44. Baylor
45. Kansas State
47. Texas Tech
66. Nebraska
68. Kansas
83. Colorado
87. Iowa State