Huskers Take on Tough Field at "Give 'Em Five"

The Nebraska women's golf team travels to Las Cruces, N.M., to tangle with a talented field at the Price's "Give 'Em Five" Invitational Oct. 4-5.

The 17-team tournament opens with a shotgun start at 9 a.m. central time on Monday, Oct. 4. The teams will play 36 holes on Monday, before concluding a 9 a.m. shotgun start and 18 holes on Tuesday.

The tournament will be played on the par 72, 6,119-yard layout of the New Mexico State University Golf Course.

The field features some of the nation's top teams, including a strong Big 12 Conference contigent, including Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State and Texas Tech, along with the Huskers.

Oklahoma won the 2003 tournament title, and Kansas State's Christine Boucher captured the individual title to give the event a strong Big 12 flavor.

Nebraska reaches the midway point of its fall competition schedule with its third of five tournaments at the Price's "Give 'Em Five" Invitational. The Huskers are hoping to regain some momentum in New Mexico. NU opened the fall with a strong showing at the Chip-N Club Invitational, but struggled to a 16th-place finish at the Jeannine McHaney Invitational last weekend.

Huskers Finish First and Second at Chip-N Club Invite
The Huskers opened the fall season with a one-two finish at the Chip-N Club Invitational at Wilderness Ridge Golf Course in Lincoln Sept. 19-20. Nebraska's top unit won the tournament for the second straight year, outdistancing the Huskers' second unit by 20 strokes.

The Nebraska Reds won the tournament with a 54-hole score of 937, while the Whites finished at 957. Southwest Missouri State took third at 965. North Texas finished fourth with a 968, 31 strokes off the pace set by the Huskers.

Redshirt freshman Allison Stewart, playing as NU's No. 4 golfer, finished fourth in the 42-player field with rounds of 75, 73 and 81 to finish 13 strokes over par at 231 despite extremely windy conditions. Stewart finished three strokes ahead of senior Merynn Ito, who took fourth place.

True freshman Elli Brown, who qualified as the No. 5 player in NU's White lineup, had a sensational opening to her career by finishing fifth overall (75-78-82-235). A second NU White team member, junior Chelsea Gehring, added a sixth-place effort (79-73-84-236). Junior Sara Sackett (seventh, 76-79-83-238) and sophomore Chrissie McArdle (eighth, 76-80-83-239) rounded out the top four golfers on the Red team and gave NU six of the top-eight finishers overall in the tournament.

All six Nebraska players will make the trip to Lubbock this weekend with Stewart, Ito, Brown, Gehring and Sackett making up NU's lineup, while McArdle plays as an individual.

Freshmen Make Immediate Impact in Chip-N Win
A trio of Husker freshmen finished among the top 13 individuals in a field of 42 players at the 2004 Chip-N Club Invitational at Wilderness Ridge Golf Course in Lincoln Sept. 19-20.

Allison Stewart, a redshirt freshman from Vermillion, S.D., made the greatest impact of the newcomers playing in their first collegiate tournament by finishing in third place overall. Stewart fired rounds of 75, 73 and 81 to finish at 229 (13-over par) to lead all Nebraska finishers.

True freshman Elli Brown was nearly as impressive, playing in the No. 5 spot for the Nebraska White team. Brown put together rounds of 75, 78 and 82 to finish with a 235 in fifth place.

Redshirt freshman Heather Gutschow also made an impression in her first tournament, stringing together NU's three most consistent rounds by an individual (81-81-82-244) to finish in a tie for 12th place with NU junior Jackie Beste.

Ito Showing Consistency Again in 2004-05
Senior Merynn Ito will provide leadership to a young and talented group of Huskers in 2004-05. Nebraska's most experienced golfer, Ito entered her final season at NU with 104 collegiate rounds under her belt and a career stroke average of 78.20.

In the Huskers' season-opening win at the Chip-N Club Invitational in Lincoln Sept. 19-20, Ito produced another solid performance with rounds of 79, 74 and 79 to finish with a three-round score of 232. Ito's 16-over-par performance was the sixth top-10 effort and 13th top-15 tournament finish in her NU career. She added solid rounds of 77 and 76 at the Jeannine McHaney Invitational to finish in a tie for 26th at 153 in the rain-shortened event.

Through five rounds this fall, Ito owns a team-leading 76.40 stroke average. Last season, the Aiea, Hawaii, native averaged a career-best 77.16 over 32 rounds. The two-time NGCA Academic All-American tied for 11th at the 2003 Big 12 Championships and tied for 114th at the 2003 NCAA Championships.

Gehring Carries Strong Summer into Fall Season
Junior Chelsea Gehring could be a player to watch in Nebraska's lineup this season. The Aberdeen, S.D., native produced the best summer of any of the returning Huskers, qualifying for the championship flights of the Women's Western Open and the Women's Trans-National.

Gehring continued her strong play by finishing sixth (79-73-84-236) at the Chip-N Club Invitational Sept. 19-20. Gehring's performance earned her the No. 4 spot in Nebraska's lineup at the Jeannine McHaney Invitational, where she added rounds of 76 and 81 to finish in a tie for 58th with a 157. Gehring ranks third on the team this fall with a 78.60 stroke average.

Gehring's three-round total of 236 at the Chip-N Club Invitational in the season-opening tournament was 13 strokes better than her previous career-low total, which came with a 249 at the 2003 Chip-N Club Invitational. Her second-round 73 was also a career-best round, six strokes better than the opening-round 79 she shot at last season's Ron Moore Highlands Ranch Intercollegiate. Her sixth-place showing at the 2004 Chip-N Club Invite easily surpassed her previous career-best, which was a tie for 23rd at last year's Highlands Ranch Intercollegiate.

Deep Husker Team Planning Big Things in 2005
The Nebraska women's golf team will hit the course this season with one of the deepest teams in school history.

With an experienced lineup built on the rock-solid foundation of eight returning letterwinners, including five golfers who played 25 or more rounds in Nebraska's lineup last season, the Huskers are poised to return to NCAA regional play for the fifth time in the last six years.

Nebraska Coach Robin Krapfl, who enters her 18th season at the controls of the program, said NU's experience will be a major factor in its success.

"We are going to have outstanding depth," Krapfl said. "There is probably not a single player whose spot is secure in the starting lineup. I think we can probably go 10 deep."

The Husker roster will feature three seniors, three juniors and a pair of sophomores who all gained significant experience in NU's lineup last season. Krapfl said the internal competition for starting spots could also help propel the Huskers to lower scores.

"Our goal is to have our five starters averaging 77 and under," Krapfl said. "Looking up and down the lineup, I think we have eight, nine or even 10 players who can do that. I think it is important for them to set their sights higher. The college game and junior golf are improving at such high rates that we need to make similar jumps in our expectations."

Along with a deep and experienced lineup, the Huskers will feature one of the hardest-working teams in golf. Krapfl said NU's work ethic over the past several seasons gives her plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the future of Nebraska golf.

"The No. 1 thing we build off of is our work ethic," Krapfl said. "Last year, they were the hardest-working group in school history and that showed again this summer. They had some outstanding summers, and hopefully the momentum will carry into the fall."