Huskers Wrap Up Arizona Tour at Mountain View

The Nebraska women’s golf team closes a three-tournament stretch in Arizona by competing in the 2018 Mountain View Invitational co-hosted by Missouri and Kansas State at the Mountain View Golf Club in Tucson, March 23-25.

A balanced 15-team field that features 10 top-100 teams in this week’s GolfStat rankings will take aim at the 6,175-yard, par-72 layout at Mountain View 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 Saturday, before the final round gets underway with a shotgun start on Sunday, March 25 at 9 a.m.

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

The Huskers are coming off a solid showing at the Clover Cup last weekend (March 16-18) in Mesa, where they finished sixth in a strong 16-team field. Kate Smith (9th) and Audrey Judd (T18th) and Annie Sritragul (T18th) all produced top-20 finishes for the Big Red as the Huskers continued to climb in the national team rankings.

Nebraska began its tournament run in Arizona by producing one of its best performances 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, 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. Judd, who won the 2017 Westbrook Spring Invitational, also performed at a high level by finishing with a seven-under-par 209 to tie for sixth.

Mountain View Invitational
Hosts: Missouri & Kansas State
Course: Mountain View Golf Club (Tucson, Ariz.)
Par 72, 6,175 Yards
Start Times, March 23-25
Tee Times (#1 & #10) - Friday, March 23, 9 a.m. (CST)
Tee Times (#1 & #10) - Saturday, March 24, 9 a.m. (CST)
Shotgun - Sunday, March 25, 9 a.m. (CST)

Participating Teams (15)
Central Arkansas
Colorado State
Illinois
Kansas
Kansas State
Middle Tennessee
Missouri
Missouri State
Nebraska
New Mexico State
North Texas
Sam Houston State
San Jose State
Wichita State
Wyoming

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

Live Scoring: BirdieFire.com

Smith Leads Record-SettingTeam 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 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 six 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 23 rounds this season, Smith carries Nebraska’s No. 2 stroke average (73.78), trailing only Judd’s 73.15. Smith is ranked No. 248 in the most recent GolfStat rankings (March 20).

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 nine top-10 tournament finishes and 12 top-25 showings in her young career. She has fired 16 rounds better than par in her career, including seven in 23 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 73.15 stroke average over 20 rounds this season.

Judd owns four top-10 finishes in seven 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 matched a career-best effort 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 11 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. She added a tie for 18th with a 223 at the Clover Cup (March 16-18) to improve her season stroke average to 75.22 through 23 rounds.

Sophomores Shaping Heart of Husker lineup in 2017-18
After putting one of its youngest lineups in history on the course in 2016-17, Nebraska still expects to feature an extremely young lineup in 2017-18. However, the freshmen who played major roles for the Big Red last year have a year of experience under their belts. The 2017-18 sophomore class also receives a major boost from the return of 2016-17 redshirt Haley Thiele, who had one of the best freshman seasons in school history in 2015-16.

Nebraska sophomores Kate Smith, Annie Sritragul and Jessica Haraden (IND) make up three of the five Huskers in the lineup at Mountain View this weekend. Smith, Sritragul and Thiele have combined for nine top-10 tournament finishes for Nebraska this season.