Huskers to Contend for Clover Cup in Arizona

The Nebraska women’s golf team returns to Arizona for its second straight tournament to participate in the 2018 Clover Cup hosted by Notre Dame at the Longbow Golf Club in Mesa, March 16-18.

A balanced 15-team field that features four teams ranked among the top 50 teams in the nation, will take aim at the 6,184-yard, par-72 layout at Longbow over three days.

The 54-hole event begins with tee times on Friday off No. 1 and No. 10 at 9 a.m. (CST) for the first round. The second round follows with the same format on St. Patrick’s Day (Saturday), before the final round gets underway with a shotgun start on Sunday, March 18 at 9 a.m.

Live scoring of the tournament will be available from BirdieFire.com.

Nebraska returns to Arizona after putting together one of its best tournaments of the season at the Westbrook Spring Invitational in Peoria, Feb. 25-26. The Huskers finished third in a strong 15-team field, while breaking seven school records.

Nebraska’s three-round team score of 843 shattered the school record, while the Huskers’ second-round total of 273 also smashed the previous team mark.Individually, sophomore Kate Smith fired a school-record 202 to finish 14 strokes under par in third place. Her second-round 64 (-8) was also a school record.

Audrey Judd, who won the 2017 Westbrook Spring Invitational, also performed at a high level in Peoria.  The senior, who missed Nebraska’s first tournament of the spring with an injury, finished with a seven-under-par 209 to tie for sixth individually for her fourth top-10 finish of the year.

Judd (72.94) and Smith (73.90) carry Nebraska’s top two stroke averages in 2017-18. Judd owns seven rounds of better than par this year, while Smith has added seven of her own. Last season, Smith tied for eighth with a three-round total of 214 (68-75-71) at the Clover Cup.

Clover Cup
Mesa, Ariz. (Longbow Golf Club)
Par 72, 6,184 Yards
Host: Notre Dame
Friday, March 16, 9 a.m. (CST) - Tee Times (#1 & #10) - 18 holes
Saturday, March 17, 9 a.m. (CST) - Tee Times (#1 & #10) - 18 holes
Sunday, March 18, 9 a.m. (CST) - Shotgun - 18 holes

Live Scoring: BirdieFire.com

Participating Teams (15)
Arizona State
Cincinnati
Delaware
Florida International
Kentucky
Minnesota
Nebraska
Notre Dame
Ohio State
Oklahoma
TCU
Texas State
Toledo
Charlotte
UNC Greensboro

Nebraska Lineup
1. Kate Smith
2. Audrey Judd
3. Haley Thiele
4. Noor Ahmed
5. Annie Sritragul
IND - Jessica Haraden
IND - Hannah Thiele

Smith Leads Record-Setting Effort at Westbrook
Kate Smith fired a school-record 14-under-par 202, including a school-record eight-under-par 64 in the second round, to lead Nebraska at the Westbrook Spring Invitational in Peoria, Ariz., Feb. 25-26.

Smith, who finished third individually, slashed 10 strokes off her previous tournament best (212) set earlier this season at the Pinehurst Challenge. She smashed a 15-year-old school record of 209 set by first-team All-American Sarah Sasse at the Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic in September of 2002. Fellow sophomore Haley Thiele matched Sasse’s record at the UNLV Collegiate Showdown in the fall of 2015, and current senior Audrey Judd did the same last season at Westbrook.

Smith, who was a two-time Big Ten Golfer of the Week during the fall campaign, owns four top-10 finishes this season, including a runner-up finish at the UNO Invitational to open the year. She has earned three Big Ten Golfer-of-the-Week honors in her career.Smith has helped the Huskers to a trio of top-10 team finishes, with runner-up efforts at UNO and Nebraska’s Chip-N Club Invitational, along with NU’s third-place showing at Westbrook.

Through 20 rounds this season, Smith carries Nebraska’s No. 2 stroke average (73.90), trailing only Judd’s 72.94.

Smith’s sophomore season performance follows an impressive freshman campaign in 2016-17 where she earned a berth in the 2017 NCAA Columbus Regional to give Nebraska its first NCAA Regional competitor since current LPGA professional Madeleine Sheils in 2012. 

Smith, who tied for 37th at the Columbus Regional, smashed the school record with her 73.90 stroke average during the season. She produced seven top-25 finishes in 10 tournaments as a freshman. 

Smith, who added a ninth-place finish at Nebraska’s Chip-N Club Invitational, Oct. 1-3, owns eight top-10 tournament finishes and 11 top-25 showings in her young career. She has fired 16 rounds better than par in her career, including seven in 20 rounds this season.

Judd Shooting for School Record, NCAA Regional Bid 
Senior Audrey Judd is putting together her best season as a Husker and is hoping to push Nebraska to an NCAA Regional bid this spring or capture an individual bid for herself. Judd is on school-record pace with her team-leading 72.94 stroke average over 17 rounds this season.

Judd owns four top-10 finishes in six tournaments this season, including a tie for first at the Chip-N Club Invitational, Oct. 1-3. She was named the Big Ten Golfer of the Week for the second time in her career following her performance at the Chip-N Club.

She is coming off a career-best-matching performance with a 209 at the Westbrook Spring Invitational, when she tied for sixth. Overall, Judd has produced six top-10 individual finishes in her last 10 events.

Judd opened her senior season by taking fourth (225) at the UNO Invitational, Sept. 1-2, then tied for ninth (74-71-145) at the East & West Match Play Challenge on Sept. 17.

Sritragul Strengthens Sophomore Class
Annie Sritragul has shown drastic improvements in her game since arriving on the Nebraska campus as a 16-year-old from Bangkok, Thailand.

As a true freshman, Sritragul made nine lineup appearances for the Big Red and posted a 77.86 stroke average over 28 rounds, fourth-best among the Huskers. Her top finish in a three-round stroke play event came with a 42nd-place showing at the 2017 Clover Cup in March.

In five fall events in 2017, Sritragul’s improvement was undeniable with a 74.21 stroke average and a trio of top-10 tournament finishes. She produced three consecutive career-best three-round scores to close the fall, including a 221 at the UNLV Collegiate Showdown (Oct. 22-24). That effort followed a 222 at the Pinehurst Challenge (Oct. 9-10) and a 225 at the Chip-N Club Invitational (Oct. 1-3).

Sritragul opened the season with a tie for ninth at the UNO Invitational (229), before taking fourth over two rounds of stroke play at the East & West Match Play Challenge. Her effort in Wisconsin included a career-best, opening-round 70.Sritragul got off to a slow start in the spring at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic, but rebounded to tie her career-best total with a 221 at the Westbrook Spring Invitational, Feb. 25-26.

Haley Thiele Happy to be Back in Big Red Lineup
Sophomore Haley Thiele has continued to experience the effects of a wrist injury after redshirting with the injury in her second season as a Husker in 2016-17.Thiele produced one of the best freshman seasons in Nebraska history in 2015-16, notching a then-freshman school-record 75.63 stroke average. She also closed her rookie year as NU’s No. 2 finisher at the Big Ten Championships in 39th place. 

During the season, Thiele tied the Husker freshman record with a five-under-par 67 at the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown while matching first-team All-American Sarah Sasse’s overall NU record with a 54-hole score of 209.

While her injury kept her off the course for the 2016-17 season, Thiele came back strong over the summer of 2017, capturing the Nebraska Women’s Amateur title and the Nebraska Women’s Amateur Stroke Play championship.

She continued her strong play by opening her sophomore season with her first career top-10 finish, a tie for sixth with a 227 at the UNO Invitational, Sept. 1-2. Thiele put together her best tournament of the season with a 218 at the Westbrook Spring Invitational, Feb. 25-26, including a season-best 68 in the second round. It was her first round better than part this season.