2008-09 Nebraska Golf Season Review

The Nebraska women’s golf team had its streak of three consecutive trips to NCAA Regional play come to an end when the NCAA announced its selections for the three 21-team regionals on Monday, April 27.

The Huskers played their final tournament at the Big 12 Championships on the Rawls Course in Lubbock, Texas, April 24-26, finishing 10th in the 12-team field.

Nebraska’s three-round score of 953 put the Huskers just three strokes behind seventh-place Baylor and just nine shots back of fourth-place Kansas State. Overall, the Big 12 sent five teams on to NCAA Regional play, including Big 12 champion Oklahoma State, runner-up Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Texas and Colorado.

The Huskers took a pair of lineup hits during the spring season, first with the departure of Kate White from school at Nebraska at the end of the first semester, then with the loss of Mary Kate Bird to injury in the final regular-season tournament. White joined fellow junior JC Stevenson with Nebraska’s top stroke average during the fall semester. Bird, a sophomore from Kansas City, Mo., played the best golf of her young career during the spring season. Bird posted NU’s top stroke average of the spring before suffering a wrist injury at the Lady Buckeye Spring Invitational on April 18, which kept her out of Nebraska’s lineup at the Big 12 Tournament.

Despite those two significant losses, Stevenson and fellow junior Charlotte Wendner were able to keep the Huskers in the hunt for a top-four Big 12 Tournament finish until the final holes of the event on April 26.

Wendner, a native of Bjarred, Sweden, headed into the final day of the Big 12 Championships in a tie for third before settling for a tie for 10th. Wendner earned a spot on the All-Big 12 Championship Team for her efforts.

Stevenson, a native of Grand Island, Neb., fired a pair of 78’s in the second and third rounds on the par-73 course in Lubbock, to finish in a tie for 20th. Sophomore Rachel Hanigan added a strong 76 in the second round on her way to a tie for 38th in her first Big 12 appearance.

True freshmen Natalie Gleadall and Maddie Sheils also contributed for the Huskers in their first Big 12 Tournament appearances.

"We are certainly going to take a lot of positives from this season," Nebraska Coach Robin Krapfl said. "We have basically everybody back from our lineup this year and we definitely gained from our experiences this year."

Huskers Say Farewell to Lone Senior Place
Nebraska will lose just one player from its final 2008-09 roster with the graduation of fifth-year senior Megan Place. The Omaha native earned first-team academic All-Big 12 honors for the second time in her career in 2009.

Place competed for the Huskers in 51 rounds during her career, including nine rounds outside of the NU lineup as a senior. She managed an 80.89 stroke average as a senior, including a tie for 33rd at the Chip-N Club Invitational to open the season. Place’s tournament performance included a final-round 74 at Wilderness Ridge.

An outstanding performer in the classroom and the community, Place earned one of Nebraska’s Student-Athlete Hero Leadership awards in 2008, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Women’s Trans National.

Wendner Captures All-Big 12 Championship Honors
Junior Charlotte Wendner earned the first conference honors of her career by tying for 10th place at the Big 12 Championships in Lubbock, Texas, April 24-26. The top 10 finishers earned spots on the All-Big 12 Championship Team.

Wendner capped her junior season with rounds of 75, 73 and 84 to finish at 232 on the par-72, 6,564-yard layout of the Rawls Course. Wendner headed into the final round of the tournament in a tie for third place at 148.

It was Wendner’s second straight top-20 finish at the Big 12 Championships, after taking 18th place at Oklahoma State in 2008.

In addition to her honors on the course, Wendner also captured first-team academic All-Big 12 accolades for the second consecutive season.

Bird Flies High During Spring Season
Sophomore Mary Kate Bird was Nebraska’s leader during the spring campaign and was gaining momentum heading down the stretch until suffering a wrist injury in the first round of the Lady Buckeye Spring Invitational on April 18.

Bird produced three top-10 finishes in 2008-09, including a tie for ninth at the Mountain View Collegiate in Tucson, Ariz., March 28-29. Bird fired a three-round total of 217, after tying for eighth place (222) at the Edwin Watts/Kiawah Island Classic, Feb. 22-24. She opened the year with the best finish of her career by taking second with a career-best 215 at NU’s Chip-N Club Invitational, Sept. 15-16.

Bird finished with Nebraska’s best stroke average (76.68) on the season. She was unable to compete at the Big 12 Championships because of the injury.

However, she did earn academic All-Big 12 recognition at the end of the season and was named one of Nebraska’s 30 student-athlete Hero Award winners.

Gleadall Ties School Record in Sixth-Place Finish at UNLV
True freshman Natalie Gleadall used a school-record-tying 67 in the second round to finish in a tie for sixth at the UNLV Spring Invitational, March 9-11.

Gleadall, who was tied for the individual lead through two rounds, added a solid round of 75 in the final round to finish with a career-best tournament score of 219 in the 96-player field.

Gleadall made a significant impact on the Husker lineup as a freshman. The native of Stratford, Ontario, Canada, earned a lineup spot in every event in 2008-09 with five top-35 finishes. She opened her career with a tie for 22nd at the Chip-N Club Invitational that included a 229. She followed that impressive performance by tying for seventh with a 232 at the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational.

Although she tied for 32nd at the McHaney/Morehead Invite, she showed progression in each round, and displayed that same improvement in tying for 27th at the Lady Pirate Intercollegiate.

Gleadall finished with Nebraska’s fourth-best stroke average of the year (78.64), while joining junior JC Stevenson as the only two Huskers to play all 33 rounds.

Gleadall came to Nebraska with impressive credentials that included advancing to the semifinals of the Women’s Western Golf Association National Championships in Indiana. She added a top-20 finish at the Royale Canadian Junior Championships and also competed in the Canadian Women’s Amateur. Gleadall also represented Ontario in the 2008 Doug Sanders International Junior Championships.

Huskers Compete Without White During Spring
Nebraska suffered a significant loss with the departure of junior Kate White from the team at the end of the fall season. White, a native of Waukegan, Ill., chose not to return to Nebraska for personal reasons following the semester break in January.

White, who had been a top performer on the course and in the classroom during her freshman, sophomore and first half of her junior season, tied JC Stevenson for a team-best 75.87 stroke average during the fall season.

White finished in the top 30 in all five fall events, including a tie for fourth at the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational. She added a tie for fifth at the McHaney Morehead Invitational, after producing an eighth-place finish at NU’s Chip-N Club Invite with a season-best 222. She closed the fall campaign with a tie for 11th at The Challenge at Wolfdancer. In the classroom, she posted a perfect 4.0 GPA during the fall semester and was named to the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll for the fifth consecutive semester. White was a two-time NGCA Scholastic All-American at Nebraska and a first-team academic All-Big 12 selection in 2008.

Stevenson Solid Near Top of Husker Lineup
JC Stevenson continued her solid Nebraska career as a junior, finishing in a tie for 20th at the Big 12 Championships. She added first-team academic All-Big 12 honors for the second time in her career and was a nominee for CoSIDA Academic All-America honors. Stevenson, who matched White with a team-leading 75.87 stroke average during the fall campaign, finished with NU’s second-best stroke average (77.21) on the season.

A native of Grand Island, Neb., Stevenson capped a stellar sophomore season by tying for 14th at the 2008 NCAA Central Regional with the best regional tournament score in school history (220). She played in all 37 rounds for NU and posted the Huskers’ second-best stroke average on the season (77.73).

She continued her growth as a golfer with a trio of top-10 finishes in the fall, including a fifth-place effort with a season-low 220 at the Chip-N Club Invitational. She added a tie for sixth with a 221 at the Lady Pirate Intercollegiate and a tie for seventh with a 227 at the McHaney/Morehead Invitational.

Stevenson owns five career top-10 and 15 career top-20 showings in her three seasons at Nebraska. She is also a stellar performer in the classroom as a two-time NGCA Scholastic All-American and a two-time first-team academic All-Big 12 pick. She is a five-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

Wendner Fills Void Left by White
Charlotte Wendner played a major role in NU’s fortunes down the stretch. The junior from Bjarred, Sweden, posted three top-20 finishes in 2008-09, including a tie for eighth with a season-best 222 at the Chip-N Club Invitational and a tie for 10th at the 2009 Big 12 Championships.

Wendner closed the fall strong by tying for 17th with a 231 at The Challenge at Wolfdancer in November.

She opened the spring campaign by leading the Huskers with a tie for 21st at the 18-team Aztec Invitational in Chula Vista, Calif. (Feb. 15-17). She was also NU’s top finisher (T-26th, 234) at the Lady Buckeye Spring Invitational.

Last season, Wendner was a key player in Nebraska’s late-season surge. She took hold of NU’s final lineup spot in the spring after tying for second at the BYU Dixie Classic and came through with an 18th-place finish at the Big 12 Championships. Wendner was NU’s No. 2 finisher at the conference tournament and closed 2007-08 with a 79.56 stroke average that included a pair of top-five finishes.

Bird Shows Major Improvement in 2008-09
Mary Kate Bird played a significant role in Nebraska’s success in 2008-09. The sophomore from Kansas City, Mo., got off to a strong start with a career-best effort at the Chip-N Club Invitational. Bird finished second with a career-best 215 that included rounds of 70, 72 and 73 at Wilderness Ridge.

She followed that performance with a tie for 14th at the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invite, before adding a tie for 32nd at the McHaney/Morehead Invitational. After tying for 51st at the Lady Pirate Intercollegiate, Bird missed NU’s final fall tournament because of a death in her family.

Bird finished the year with a team-best 76.68 stroke average, three-plus strokes better than her freshman season average of 79.87. Bird got her first taste of collegiate action as a true freshman in the Husker lineup. She competed in five tournaments, including lineup spots at the Edwin Watts/Palmetto Invitational and Central District Invitational. Her rookie campaign ended with a late-season illness that kept her out of the postseason.

Huskers Open Season with Chip-N Club Title
Mary Kate Bird produced the best finish of her career with a one-under-par 215 to finish second and power Nebraska to the team title with a three-round total of 884 at the 2008 Chip-N Club Invitational at Wilderness Ridge, Sept. 15-16.

Bird led a contingent of five Huskers who finished in the top 10 at Nebraska’s season-opening tournament. Bird managed a final-round 73 to go along with an opening-round 70 and a second-round 72. The 215 marked Bird’s best tournament score of her career, while the second-place finish was also a career best.

Husker junior JC Stevenson closed the tournament with a final-round 71 to finish in fifth place at 220. Fellow juniors Kate White and Charlotte Wendner added eighth-place finishes at 222. White, playing on NU’s top team, matched Bird with a final-round 73, while Wendner produced the best round of the day by any golfer with a career-low, three-under-par 69 to add a 222 of her own. Wendner led the Nebraska "B" team to a sixth-place team finish in the 13-team field. The Huskers’ second unit closed the tournament with a solid score of 909.

Huskers Continue to Set the Pace in the Classroom
Five Huskers earned first-team academic All-Big 12 honors in 2009. JC Stevenson, Charlotte Wendner, Mary Kate Bird, Rachel Hanigan and Megan Place all claimed spots on Big 12’s top academic team. Stevenson, Wendner and Place all earned first-team honors for the second time in their careers, while Hanigan and Bird were first-time honorees.

Nebraska owns one of the nation’s richest traditions of academic success in women’s golf. In fact, the Huskers lead the nation with 50 NGCA Scholastic All-America honors all-time. Stevenson, Kate White and Allison Stewart all captured NGCA Scholastic All-America honors at the conclusion of the 2007-08 campaign.

Stevenson and White both claimed their second awards in 2008.

The academic success of the Huskers is impressive up and down the lineup. In fact, all five returning letterwinners on the Husker roster own better than a 3.4 individual grade-point average. Nebraska’s academic success is nothing new. In 2006-07, the Husker women’s golf team produced the fifth-best team grade-point-average of any collegiate women’s golf team in the nation.