Huskers Battled Through 2008-09 Season

Although the Nebraska men’s golf team missed out on a regional appearance for the second consecutive year in 2008-09, the season featured some outstanding individual performances from underclassmen that have Head Coach Bill Spangler excited for the new heights the 2009-10 squad can achieve. Finishing in the top five twice for the first time since 2006-07, the Huskers battled tough weather conditions throughout the season while recording a team stroke average of 298, five strokes better than the previous year.

 

Starting off in the Fairway

A familiar sight returned to the Nebraska golf program in the fall, as the Huskers hosted the season-opening Fairway Club Invitational Sept. 8-9. After a two-year break from hosting the invite, Spangler secured Arbor Links Golf Course in Nebraska City for the site, the first time in the tournament’s eight-year history that it was played at a course other than Firethorn. The format was shortened to 36 holes because of inclement weather, and the Huskers tied for seventh, led by three top-20 individual performances. Junior Brandon Crick, playing in his first tournament as a Husker after transferring from Gonzaga, posted the top score for the Big Red with a 148 and tied for 13th. Tyler Parsloe recorded his first career top-20 finish, as he and Mike Coatman tied for 18th, the first of a team-leading six top-20 finishes for Coatman on the year.

 

The Huskers tied for eighth at the Kansas Invitational the following week, thanks in part to Coatman’s tie-for-11th finish, a career best at the time. NU followed its 895 score at Kansas with an 884 at the St. Mary’s Invitational, Sept. 29-30. Parsloe led the way with his second tie-for-18th performance in three tournaments, while the Huskers tied for 12th in the 17-team race. Sophomore Andrew Wyatt (left), the Huskers’ 2007-08 stroke leader, made his season debut at St. Mary’s after recovering from an offseason foot injury. Wyatt struggled to regain his freshman form in the first two rounds, but posted a team-best 71 in the final round to kickstart a solid close to his fall season.   

 

NU continued to improve its team score with an 882 at the Louisiana Tech/Squire Creek Invitational in mid-October, but the Huskers finished 14th out of 16 teams. Freshman Austin Zimmerman highlighted the Huskers’ final round with a career-best, even-par 72. Coatman paced NU with a 23rd-place finish.

 

The fall slate wrapped up with the Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate in Las Cruces, N.M., Oct. 27-28. NU posted its best team total of the fall with an 877 and tied for 10th place. Coatman ended the fall on a strong note with a career-best tie-for-ninth finish and a career-low round of 69. Through five fall tournaments, Coatman led the Big Red with a 72.71 stroke average, while Parsloe (74.71) and Crick (74.55) followed.

 

Battling the Elements

Chilly temperatures and strong winds made the spring season for the Huskers rather brutal. However, NU found a way to scratch and claw for some solid outings, including an individual title and the best team finish in two years.

 

The spring opened in Houston, Texas, where NU finished eighth at the Rice Intercollegiate. Coatman recorded his second straight tie-for-ninth finish to lead the team, while Crick also came out of the winter break rejuvenated, as he tied for 13th. Senior Chris Bruening was able to secure a top-30 finish with a season-best 225.

 

The Huskers captured their best finish in two years when they finished third at the Troy Invitational in Crestview, Fla., Feb. 28-March 1. Although the Huskers’ team score of 935 was their highest of the season, only two teams in the nine-team field fared better playing in the cold, wind and rain. Crick led NU with a ninth-place finish. Wyatt and freshman Scott Willman (right) tied for 13th.

 

At the Desert Shootout in Phoenix, the Huskers posted a season-best score of 862, but finished 10th overall. The 862 feat marked the best team score in two years. Coatman and Wyatt each scored two-under-par 214. Willman shot a career-best 215, and senior Mark Pillen recorded a career-best 217.        

 

The following weekend, Nebraska was scheduled to compete in the Diet Pepsi/Shocker Classic, but winter weather in Wichita, Kan., forced the cancellation of the tournament. Spangler quickly organized a 36-hole Husker Shootout for South Dakota St. and Morningside, to be played at Arbor Links on March 29, the same weekend the Huskers were scheduled to be in Wichita.

 

The Huskers finished second in the triangular, three shots behind the Jacks. Wyatt and Crick shared top honors in the tournament at 144. Unfortunately for NU, Crick played as an individual. Had his score counted toward the Huskers’ team score, NU would have won the title.

 

Weather again played a factor the next week, as 12 teams at the Branson Creek Invitational battled strong winds and unusually chilly temperatures for early April. However, Crick made the most of the sloppy conditions, becoming NU’s first medalist in a tournament since October 2006.

 

With the tournament shortened to 36 holes because of the weather, Crick (left) rallied from a tie for third entering the final 18 holes to win by one stroke over two competitors. Although the win was the first by a Husker in two and a half years, it was the third career victory for Crick, who captured two medalist honors at Gonzaga. NU tied for fifth in the team race. 

 

At the final regular season tournament, the Palisades Collegiate Classic, Nebraska finished 14th, but Willman capped a strong spring season with a tie-for-33rd finish to lead NU. Willman, who competed in just two tournaments during the fall season, joined Wyatt as the only Huskers to compete in the Big Red’s scoring lineup every tournament of the spring season.

 

Nebraska closed out the season with an 11th-place finish at the Big 12 Championships at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kan., a tournament where the Huskers again had to don hats and coats for part of the tournament. Crick tied for 25th to lead NU, while Willman tied for 41st. NU finished with a 1,206, just two strokes out of ninth place.

 

The three seniors ? Pillen, Bruening and Trent Price ? bid their farewells to the team at season’s end. They combined to play 180 rounds at Nebraska. Price was only the third two-time Academic All-Big 12 first team selection in school history.

 

Although Nebraska failed to qualify for a regional in 2008-09, many young Huskers gained valuable experience that will pay off down the road in their Husker careers. Coatman, NU’s stroke leader at 74.15, and Crick, who finished second at 74.58, form a solid 1-2 punch that expects to compete for medalist honors next season. In addition, freshmen Willman and Zimmerman qualified for a significant number of rounds for a Husker team that contained three seniors, which should give them confidence as they embark upon their sophomore seasons. Parsloe showed his potential in the fall with three consecutive rounds of 71. And Wyatt, the 2007-08 stroke leader, will look to return to a top spot in NU’s lineup after his preseason injury last summer set him back at the start of the fall season.