Boise, Idaho - True freshman Kate White and Meridian, Idaho native Elli Brown claimed the top two spots to lead the Nebraska women's golf team to a school-record three-round score of 884 and the tournament title at the 17-team Bronco Invitational on Tuesday.
White, playing in just her fourth collegiate tournament, fired a final round, two-over-par 73 on the 6,177-yard layout at the BanBury Golf Club in Eagle, Idaho, to finish the 54-hole tournament at 213 (67-73-73).
The Waukegan, Ill., native tied the school record with her opening-round 67 on Monday and held off teammate and hometown favorite Brown in the final round.
"Obviously Kate winning as a freshman is a tremendous accomplishment and I am really proud of her," Nebraska Coach Robin Krapfl said. "She felt a lot of pressure today entering the final round in the lead and she was four over after the first four holes. But she regrouped and came on strong down the stretch to birdie three of the last four holes and win the tournament."
Brown added a one-over-par 72 to lead the Huskers on Tuesday, and finish in a tie for second just three strokes behind White at 216.
The second-place showing was the best tournament finish of Brown's career, while her 216 smashed her previous career-low 54-hole score of 223.
"I'm really happy for Elli, too," Krapfl said. "I know she felt tremendous pressure and was excited to be playing at home in front of so many family and friends. She came through with three solid rounds of golf and finished right up there near the top. I think that shows a lot of maturity in her game."
The one-two performance of White and Brown propelled the Huskers to an eight-stroke victory over UC Davis for the team title. The two teams entered the final 18 holes in a tie for first at 588, but with low scores from White and Brown, along with a 75 from true freshman JC Stevenson and a 76 from senior Chrissie McArdle, the Huskers finished with a final round 296 - the lowest score of the third round. NU also produced the best second-round score of the tournament on Monday afternoon with a 292.
Nebraska's 884 team score over three rounds smashed the previous school record of 887, set two times, most recently at the Mountain View Collegiate March 25-26, 2006. The Huskers also shot an 887 at the Colorado Invitational in 1997.
UC Davis managed a 304 in the final round to finish at 892, 17 strokes ahead of the hosts from Boise State. The Broncos closed the tournament with a 297 to finish at 909. Brigham Young finished fourth at 917, while Xavier rounded out the top five team scores in the tournament with a 920, 36 strokes behind the Huskers.
Individually, Andrea Carlson (Dunagan) also enjoyed a career-best for the Huskers. Her 79 on Tuesday allowed her to finish with a career-low three-round total of 228. The Grand Island native matched McArdle for a career-best 14th-place finish in the tournament.
Stevenson, also a Grand Island native, closed the tournament with a career-low 227 to finish in 13th place. She also finished with a career-low tournament score, while her 13th-place showing was her second top-15 tournament showing of the season, trailing only her tie for 12th at the Badger Invitational.
"I really feel like we made a step forward as a team this week. We drained some big putts and we had some good chips and we played smart golf," Krapfl said. "We had good performances up and down our lineup and it showed in our scores. I think we are really coming around as a team."
Final Team Standings
Bronco Fall Invitational
BanBury Golf Course
Eagle, Idaho
Par 71, 6,177 Yards
1. Nebraska (296-292-296-884)
2. UC Davis (287-301-304-892)
3. Boise State (300-312-297-909)
4. Brigham Young (309-303-305-917)
5. Xavier (307-311-302-920)
6. Montana (313-309-302-924)
7. Eastern Washington (314-317-304-935)
T8. Santa Clara (311-321-318-950)
T8. Wyoming (310-320-320-950)
10. Portland (311-331-310-952)
11. Portland State (317-324-315-956)
12. Weber State (316-324-319-959)
13. Montana State (311-324-327-962)
14. British Columbia (317-334-327-978)
15. Boise State-2 (332-320-329-981)
16. South Dakota State (328-330-343-1,001)
17. Idaho State (342-335-349-1,026)
Individual Leaderboard
1. Kate White, Nebraska (67-73-73-213)
T2. Elli Brown, Nebraska (73-71-72-216)
T2. Sydney Roughton, UC Davis (69-73-74-216)
4. Hannah Summerhays, Brigham Young (75-70-73-218)
5. Bryana Gregory, UC Davis (70-77-73-220)
6. Kara Manis, Xavier (70-76-75-221)
7. Jill Walker, Montana (76-74-72-222)
T8. Krista Swanson, Montana (74-75-74-223)
T8. Mary Beth McKenna, Xavier (73-78-72-223)
10. Taryn Kuida, Portland (72-78-75-225)
Other Huskers
13. JC Stevenson (79-73-75-227)
T14. Chrissie McArdle (77-75-76-228)
T14. Andrea Carlson (Dunagan) (74-75-79-228)*
58. Megan Place (84-82-80-246)
*played as an individual, did not count toward team score