Huskers to Open Season with Chip-N Club

The Nebraska women's golf team opens its 2010 fall season by playing host to the annual Chip-N Club Invitational at Wilderness Ridge Golf Course in Lincoln, Sept. 13-14.

Following a practice round and the tournament's first College-Am on Sunday, the 15-team field will take to the 6,238-yard, par-72 layout at Wilderness Ridge with a shotgun start on Monday at 9 a.m.

The five-player (count four) teams and individual competitors will play 36 holes on Monday, before closing the tournament with the final 18 holes on Tuesday beginning with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m.

Live scoring for the tournament will be available at GolfStat.com.

A solid field that includes four Big 12 schools (Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri and Nebraska), will be joined by Big Ten representative Iowa, James Madison from the Colonial Athletic Association and a trio of teams from the Southland Conference (Central Arkansas, Texas State, UTSA). Creighton will represent the Missouri Valley, while Sacramento State (Big Sky), Arkansas State (Sun Belt) and North Dakota State and South Dakota State (Summit) complete the field.

A young and relatively inexperienced Nebraska team led by Coach Robin Krapfl will take aim at their sixth Chip-N Club title in the past eight seasons. They will also try to reclaim the crown from 2009 champion Missouri. The Tigers posted a winning score of 878 last season at Wilderness Ridge, while the Huskers took second with a solid 889. Kansas finished third at 895.

Sacramento State (5th, 904), Kansas State (916, 7th) and Arkansas State (10th, 937), NDSU (12th), SDSU (13th) and Creighton (14th) will also return to the field after competing in NU's 2009 season-opening event. 

Chip-N Club Invitational
Host: Nebraska
Location: Lincoln, Neb.
Course: Wilderness Ridge Golf Course
Par/Yardage: 72/6,238

Tee Times
Monday, Sept. 13 (36) - 9 a.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 14 (18) - 8:30 a.m.

Nebraska Lineup
Mary Kate Bird
Madeleine Sheils
Steffi Neisen
Kayla Knopik
Katie Keiser or Carolyn Schorgl

Nebraska Individuals
Possibles - Keiser or Schorgl, Remylee Molyneux, Katelyn Wright

Chip-N Club Field (15 Teams)
Akron, Arkansas State, Central Arkansas, Creighton, Iowa, James Madison, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota State, Sacramento State, South Dakota State, Texas State, UTSA

Live Scoring: GolfStat.com

Bird, Sheils Return to Lead New Look Huskers
Nebraska's lone senior Mary Kate Bird returns to lead a young and relatively inexperienced Husker women's golf team into the 2010-11 season.

Bird, a three-year letterwinner from Kansas City, Mo., has competed in 67 rounds over the past three seasons in the NU lineup. Bird owns 10 career top-25 finishes, including a runner-up finish at the 2008 Chip-N Club Invite.

Bird will be joined in a leadership role by junior Madeleine Sheils. Nebraska's top finisher at the 2010 Big 12 Championships, Sheils just missed All-Big 12 honors with her 11th-place showing. The Boise, Idaho, native's performance and confidence peaked at the end of a strong sophomore season.

Last year, Sheils competed in 31 rounds and posted a strong 76.35 stroke average, nearly seven strokes better than her rookie campaign in 2008-09. Her 76.35 represented the third-best stroke average by a sophomore in school history.

As a junior, Sheils will look for continued improvement on the course. The two-time NGCA Scholastic All-American will also plan to continue her excellence in the classroom.

Knopik Hopes to Continue Climb in 2010-11
Nebraska native Kayla Knopik enjoyed a breakout 2010 spring season that concluded with her tie for 39th at the Big 12 Championships.

The junior from Papillion, Neb., enters her fourth season in the Nebraska women's golf program in 2010-11, after earning a spot in NU's starting five late last spring.

Knopik, who has continued to improve each season at Nebraska, made the most of her opportunity last season by notching a 78.22 stroke average over 18 rounds. Her average represented a 4.61-stroke per round improvement over her redshirt freshman campaign in 2008-09, when she played just six rounds.

She produced a career-best tie for 14th at the 2010 BYU at Entrada Classic with a career-best three-round score of 230.

Knopik has performed well at both Chip-N Club tournaments she has played in her NU career, including a career-best 73 in the opening round of 2008, and the second-best round of her career with a final-round 74 last season.

After a solid summer that included a fifth-place finish at the Nebraska State Stroke Play Championship and a third-place showing at the Eastern Stroke Play, Knopik is hoping her game continues to improve.

She was hampered by a thumb injury midway through the summer, which could affect her performance during the fall campaign. 

Schorgl Hoping for Breakout Season as Junior
Junior Carolyn Schorgl hopes to make an impact on the Nebraska lineup in her third season in the program in 2010-11. The Leawood, Kan., native has competed in 18 rounds in her first two years in the program.

Last year at the Chip-N Club Invitational, Schorgl fired a career-best 73 in the final round. At the 2008 Chip-N Club, she produced a career-best three-round total of 232, which was good for 33rd in her first collegiate event.

A solid performer in the classroom and the community, Schorgl is a four-time Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll selection and a recipient of a 2010 Nebraska Student-Athlete HERO Leadership Award. 

Transfer Keiser Tries to Make Impact in Home State
Katie Keiser will try to make an immediate impact on Nebraska's lineup after transferring from Winthrop before the start of the 2010-11 season.

The Gothenburg, Neb., native spent her first two collegiate seasons at Winthrop University before joining the Husker program in the summer of 2010.

Keiser showed her abilities during the summer by finishing as the runner-up at the 2010 Nebraska State Stroke Play Championship on her home course in Gothenburg. Keiser (230) finished three shots back of former Husker JC Stevenson (227) in the 54-hole event. Current Husker teammate Kayla Knopik (239) added a fifth-place finish. 

Freshmen Plan to Lay Foundation for the Future
A talented three-player freshman class hopes to lay the foundation for future success in the Husker program.

Steffi Neisen, New Prague, Minn. (New Prague)
Steffi Neisen, a newcomer from New Prague, Minn., could make the quickest impact on the Husker program. A four-time top-seven finisher in the state of Minnesota's largest class of high school golf (AAA), Neisen earned a spot in Nebraska's top five during preseason qualifying for the Chip-N Club.

A six-year varsity player at New Prague High School, Neisen was a five-time Missota Conference Player of the Year (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010), and a six-time all-conference selection.

"Steffi is a great student with outstanding character who has natural leadership qualities," Nebraska Coach Robin Krapfl said. "She is a hard worker and cares about those around her. She has a solid all-around game with outstanding fundamentals. She is also extremely competitive and will never give up. She is going to do everything she can to be successful, and to help the team succeed."

Katelyn Wright, Incline Village, Nev. (Incline)
Fellow freshman Katelyn Wright comes to Nebraska as one of the most accomplished prep golfers in Husker history. A four-time Nevada High School state champion, she is just the second player in Nevada history to accomplish that feat. As a senior, she won the title by 26 strokes with a two-under-par 142 over 36 holes. In 2008, she won the crown by 28 strokes.

Wright was also a four-time qualifier for the Callaway Junior World Championships and a three-time member and two-time captain of the Junior America's Cup team.

An outstanding all-around athlete, Wright was also a two-time state champion in track and field, and a first-team all-state basketball selection as a point guard on Incline High School's Class 2A team.

Off the fields of competition, Wright was the Incline High School Student Body President in 2009-10, after serving as the junior class vice president in 2008-09.

"We are excited that Katie is here at Nebraska," Coach Robin Krapfl said. "She is an outstanding young lady who is very mature and is a born leader. She brings all of the characteristics that we want in a student-athlete at Nebraska. She has outstanding length off the tee and good fundamentals. She is also hard-working, and a quality student. Plus, she already has a passion for Nebraska athletics and a desire to be a great player for the Huskers."

Wright is a second generation Husker golfer, following in the footsteps of her mother, Shelly (Godeken) Wright, who was a two-time All-Big Eight selection at NU in 1983 and 1984.

Remylee Molyneux, Thousand Oaks, Calif. (Oaks Christian)
A talented golfer out of California, Remylee Molyneux comes to Nebraska after a successful high school and junior career. The 2009 Tri-Valley League Champion and 2008 Ventura County Junior Golfer of the Year at Oaks Christian High School, Molyneux has been a consistent winner over the past several seasons. In fact, she was the medalist at 11 high school tournaments in 2008.

"Remy comes to Nebraska from a very diverse background having traveled to and lived in several countries," Nebraska Coach Robin Krapfl said. "She is really starting to come into her own on the course. She has excellent length and has been working on becoming better in all areas of her game. She has the potential to be a tremendous player for us."

Molyneux won medalist honors in 11 of 15 high school tournaments as a junior in 2008, including the Tri-Valley League crown. She also assisted in coaching the middle school girls golf program at Oaks Christian.

She was the 2008 Ventura County Junior Golfer of the Year, winning four consecutive VCJGA tournaments in the summer of 2008, including the Ventura County State Stroke Play Championship. She fired a career-best 71 to win the Thousand Oaks Open on July 8, 2008. She also won a 15-18 California Junior Tour event at Buenaventura at the age of 15.

Huskers Could Face Rebuilding Year in 2010-11
Nebraska returns just four letterwinners from its 2009-10 team that finished eighth at the Big 12 Championships and missed out on NCAA Regional competition.

The largest void will be left by four-year starter JC Stevenson, who competed in 136 rounds during her NU career. Stevenson, who led the Huskers with a 75.84 stroke average last season and finished in a career-best tie for 15th at the 2010 Big 12 Championships, was also a four-time NGCA Scholastic All-American off the course.

Fellow senior Charlotte Wendner was also a regular in Nebraska's top five last season, competing in 28 rounds and posting a 77.64 stroke average. Wendner, who played 95 rounds in her four-year NU career, was also a two-time NGCA Scholastic All-American.

In addition to losing two seniors, Nebraska must also fill the gaps left by the 2009-10 midseason transfers of Natalie Gleadall and Rachel Hanigan. Gleadall competed during the 2009 fall season as a sophomore and produced a team-best 74.00 stroke average.

The Huskers also lost the services of Erin Sharpee during the summer. The 2009-10 freshman competed in 24 rounds rounds and posted a strong 77.00 stroke average.

The five-player turnover will leave the Huskers with just an eight-player roster in 2010-11, including one senior (Mary Kate Bird), three returning juniors (Madeleine Sheils, Kayla Knopik, Carolyn Schorgl), one junior transfer (Katie Keiser) and three true freshmen (Remylee Molyneux, Steffi Neisen, Katelyn Wright).

Huskers Continue to Set the Pace in the Classroom
Three Huskers captured NGCA Scholastic All-America honors in 2010, pushing Nebraska's nation-leading total to 57 since 1989. JC Stevenson became the third Husker in history to be a four-time NGCA Scholastic All-American, while fellow 2010 senior Charlotte Wendner added the second NGCA honor of her career.

Sophomore Madeleine Sheils claimed the second NGCA Scholastic All-America award of her career, putting her on track to join Stevenson, Jackie Beste and Allison Stewart as a four-time award winner.