2005 Season Begins at Home

The Nebraska men's golf team opens its season early next week with a tournament on its home course. The Huskers will play host to the Fairway Club Invitational at the Firethorn Golf Club as they battle 12 teams on Monday and Tuesday.

 

The six teams returning from 2004 include Army, Creighton, Drake,  MissouriState (formerly Southwest Missouri), Northern Illinois, and Texas Pan-American. Rounding out this years' field are Hartford, Illinois State, Loyola-Marymount, UMKC, Northern Iowa and St. Louis.

 

Nebraska looks to recapture the crown following a first-place finish among 12 teams in the 2004 Fairway Club Invite. Last year the Huskers snagged a 10-shot victory over Sothern Miss with scores of 308, 299, and 296 to finish with a final score of 903.

 

With most fall practices played on the Firethorn course, fifth-year head coach Bill Spangler explained the advantages heading into the tournament.

 

“We play the majority of our golf and practice early in the fall at Firethorn, so obviously we know the golf course a lot better than the other teams,"  Spangler said.

 

Initial goals for the Huskers include focusing in on competition against Illinois State, Missouri State, and Drake.

 

"We want to be successful against other teams in our district," Spangler said. "Finishing the season with a winning record against those teams is how you get to the post-season, so that's our initial goal."

 

Depth through the Husker Lineup

The order of the Husker lineup for the Fairway Club Invitational was finalized with six qualifiying rounds this week, wrapping up with the final round on Thursday.

 

First is junior Brady Schnell, followed by senior Judd Cornell, junior Drew Reynolds, and freshmen Joe Kubick and Trent Price.

 

Kubick and Price, the two freshmen in the lineup, represent the depth of this year's team. Nebraska's depth should keep the race for the final three spots in the lineup tight among at least six golfers throughout the season.

 

Spangler reiterated the positives that two freshmen were able to step into the lineup right away.

 

"All the guys were confident, but with six rounds there are really few surprsies," Spangler said. "The players playing the best over six rounds are going to make it. I’m not shocked, I’m more pleased that the freshmen were able to come in here and perform like that."

 

The Fairway Club Invitational marks the first of six fall tournaments for the team. The Huskers next travel to Toledo, Ohio for the Inverness Intercollegiate Invitational at the Inverness Club on Sept. 19-20.

 

The field for the Inverness Intercollegiate Invitational is one of the best in the nation during the fall season, including six programs that were ranked in the Top 25 of Golfweek’s final 2004-05 rankings. Florida leads the way at No. 7 followed by No. 10 Kentucky, No. 11 TCU, No. 15 USC, No. 21 Texas and No. 22 Michigan State.

 

A Look Ahead to 2005-06

Although Spangler will have just one senior heading into the 2005-06 season, the 10-man squad showed its depth immediately with the close race for spots on the lineup for the Fairway Club Invitational this week.

 

Junior Brady Schnell, an Omaha native out of MillardWestHigh School, leads the Huskers' lineup for the tournament after winning the six-round team qualifier over the past week.

 

As Schnell continues to improve with each season, Spangler maintains a lot of confidence in his abilities for the upcoming year.

 

"He was the medalist in our six-round qualifier," Spangler said, "so the possibilities are endless for him to have a good year."

 

Schnell posted a team-leading four top-six finishes in the spring and matched the school single-round record with a round of 65, finishing with a 72.6 stroke average, lowering his 2004-2005 average to 73.7 strokes per round.

 

Additonally, Schnell is coming off an excellent summer in which he qualified for the 105th U.S. Amateur Championship.

 

Schnell completed 36 holes with a total of 149, good for a tie for 93rd, and just outside of the cut for the 64-player match play bracket.

 

“I’m glad that I got to play in it because it’s the biggest tournament in amateur golf," Schnell said.

 

Judd Cornell, an Omaha native who attended MillardWestHigh School, has been a regular starter in each of his three years at Nebraska, and comes off of an outstanding junior year, including a fall season in which he averaged under 73 strokes.

 

Cornell brings a wealth of experience to the team as a three-year letterwinner, as well as a sense of leadership as  he is the first Husker senior since the 2003-04 squad.

 

As he and Schnell continue to anchor the team with the number one and two spots, Cornell feels confident in the team's remaining lineup after the team's qualifying rounds to start the fall season.

 

“Qualifying went pretty well, Cornell said. "The scores for our team were exceptionally lower than they have been in the past. Everyone played well from the bottom to the top, and we had a pretty good week."

 

Cornell,the Huskers' most experienced golfer, emphasized the positives of having two freshmen in the starting lineup.

 

“It’s always good to have young guys in the lineup, and Joe and Trent both have a lot of experience," Cornell said.

 

Junior Drew Reynolds rounds out the returning members of the lineup as he fills in the third spot. The Lee's Summit, Mo. native who attended Blue Springs South posted a 75.18 stroke average during 17 fall rounds, while wrapping up the 2004-05 campaign with 32 rounds for a 74.5 stroke average and a low round of 68.   

 

The Newcomers

Competition for the last three spots was tight between six golfers, with freshmen Joe Kubik and Trent Price eventually securing spots four and five.

 

Despite their youth, Spangler has high expectations for Kubik and Price, who were teammates at SoutheastHigh School in Lincoln.

 

"They both had successful high school careers and successful junior careers in the state, both won state junior titles," Spangler said.

 

"Trent (Price) set the nebraska state high school scoring record this year, winning the state high school championship so he really had a lot of momentum coming in this fall. They’re both expected to contribute a lot right away."

 

Junior Ty Capps rounds out the Huskers' new golfers and brings experience as he joins the team following a two-year stint at SouthMountainCommunity College in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

 

"With Ty (Capps), he's a junior college transfer, so he’s had two years of  college experience," Spangler said. " I recruited him out of high school, so when the recruiting process began again I was familar with him.

 

"He's got a lot of game and he's a very confident player and I expect him to help right away too."

 

Along with the wealth of experience that Cornell and Schnell will bring, Spangler remains excited that the newcomers will step in motivated and ready to contribute.

 

“All three, under the same heading, have high expectations of themselves," Spangler said. "It’s not surprising they all want to start and contribute right away."

 

2004-2005 Recap

The fall of 2004 saw the golf team allow its youthful roster to gain solid experience. The team finished in the top five seven times and captured two tournament titles in Coach Bill Spangler’s fourth year. 

 

Nebraska consistently posted low scores throughout the fall, capturing their first title of 2004-05, and placing in the top five twice more. 

 

The Huskers rode a wave of momentum into the spring season, capturing another tournament title and finishing in the top five four times in the spring campaign. The four top five finishes left the team with seven for the 2004-2005 season.

 

The Huskers reached their peak in the spring season at the Branson Creek Invitational when they captured the tournament title.

 

The team posted scores of 293 and 290, placing Nebraska two strokes ahead of SouthwestMissouriState to snag the first-place spot.

Nebraska's top finisher was Schnell, who came in second by shooting a score of 216. Juniors Drew Reynolds and Ryan Lenahan tied for fifth place as they both posted scores of 219.

 

With a solid spring campaign behind them, the Huskers headed to the Big 12 Tournament at Whispering Pines Golf Club in Trinity, Texas.

 

Going into the final day of competition sitting in ninth place, NU put up scores in the 80’s and slid down three spots to 12th place. Schnell led the Huskers with a score of 227, tying for 18th place, but no other Huskers were able to crack the top 20. 

 

Cornell to be Honored With Scholarship

Senior Judd Cornell will begin a new tradition in his final season at Nebraska as the first recipient of the Dick Spangler Memorial Scholarship.

 

"It’s great to be honored for something like that," Cornell said.

 

The scholarship is named after head coach Bill Spangler's father, and Cornell has proven to be worthy of the honor after an outstanding summer campaign in 2004 in which he was named the co-Nebraska Amateur Player of the Year.

 

Cornell is also strong in the classroom, picking up first-team Academic All-Big 12 honors as a sophomore in the spring semester.

 

A fund-raiser for the scholarship will be on Friday, Sept. 9 at the Arbor Links Golf course in NebraskaCity, with 24 teams participating. The fund-raiser is expected to gross more than 25,000 dollars towards endowing the scholarship.

 

The scholarship will be presented to Cornell following the tournament on Friday.