Huskers Return to Arizona for Clover Cup

The Nebraska women’s golf team returns to Arizona for its second straight spring tournament when the Huskers travel to Mesa for the Clover Cup, March 15-17. 

Notre Dame plays host to a 15-team field at the Longbow Golf Club. The tournament includes No. 1 USC, No. 21 Oklahoma, No. 30 Houston and No. 44 Mississippi State among the nation’s top 50 teams. Other top-100 teams include Kentucky, Mercer, the hosts from Notre Dame, Nebraska, FIU and Kansas State, while Wisconsin, UNC Greensboro, Cincinnati, IUPUI and Western Carolina round out the field on the par-72, 6,184-yard layout. 

Play begins Friday with tee times for groups of three at 10 a.m. (CT) for the first round. The same format will be followed on Saturday, before Sunday’s final round begins with a shotgun start at 10 a.m. (CT). Live scoring will be available at BirdieFire.com.

Nebraska’s last trip to Arizona was a memorable one, with the Huskers storming to the Westbrook Spring Invitational team title. In a loaded 16-team field, the Huskers posted the second-best team score in school history (853), including a second-round 276 (-12). It was Nebraska’s first team title since the spring of 2014.

Kate Smith (Detroit Lakes, Minnesota) led the Huskers by tying for second with an eight-under-par 208 over three rounds. It was Smith’s fourth top-10 finish of the year, as she lowered her season stroke average to 72.95. 

Redshirt freshman Kirsten Baete (Beatrice, Nebraska) produced the best performance of her young career by tying for fifth with a six-under 210 that included a six-under 66 in the second round. It was Baete’s first career top-25 finish.

2019 Clover Cup
Location: Mesa, Arizona Host: Notre Dame Course: Longbow Golf Club (Par 72, 6,184 Yards)
Schedule Friday, March 15 (Tee Times): 10 a.m. (CT) Saturday, March 16 (Tee Times): 10 a.m. (CT) Sunday, March 17 (Shotgun): 10 a.m. (CT) Live Scoring: BirdieFire.com

Participating Teams (15)

• Cincinnati (145)
• FIU (92)
• Houston (30)
• IUPUI (163)
• Kansas State (97)
• Kentucky (64)
• Mercer (65)
• Mississippi State (44)
• Nebraska (86)
• Notre Dame (74)
• Oklahoma (21)
• UNC Greensboro (137)
• USC (1)
• Western Carolina (198)
• Wisconsin (105)

Nebraska Lineup

1. Kate Smith
2. Kirsten Baete
3. Haley Thiele
4. Noor Ahmed
5. Vanessa Bouvet
   IND-Megan Whittaker
   IND-Hannah Thiele

Smith Shoots for Third Straight Record-Setting Season as Husker Junior Kate Smith is focused on improving on her back-to-back school-record stroke averages while making a return trip to NCAA Regional competition.

Smith, who notched a then-school-record 73.90 average as a freshman on her way to a 2017 NCAA Regional bid, improved to a 73.66 stroke average as a sophomore but just missed a regional berth.

In 2017-18, Smith smashed a school record with her 14-under-par 202 at the 2018 Westbrook Spring Invitational (Feb. 25-26). She added the second-best tournament in school history with her 208 (-8) at the 2019 Westbrook Spring Invitational (Feb. 24-25), which helped her improve her season stroke average to 72.95.

Smith’s 2018 performance at Westbrook included a school-record 64 (-8) in the second round. 

Smith, who posted Nebraska’s top finish by taking 19th at the 2018 Big Ten Championships, owns three career Big Ten Golfer-of-the-Week awards, including two during the fall of 2017. Smith owns 18 top-25 tournament finishes in her career, including her 13th top-10 performance by tying for second at the 2019 Westbrook Spring Invitational.

Smith opened the fall season by tying for sixth with an even-par 216 at the Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic in Colorado, Sept. 17-19, and added a tie for eighth with a 210 (71-68-71) at the UNLV Collegiate Showdown. She posted a 73.23 fall stroke average.

She has fired 24 rounds better than par in her career, including a season-best second-round 68 at UNLV (Oct. 22) and in the second round at Westbrook (Feb. 24). Smith owns a school-record 73.58 career stroke average over 79 rounds. 

Bouvet, Baete Make Early Impact to Lead Big Red Freshmen Vanessa Bouvet and Kirsten Baete made major impacts for the Huskers while playing in their first collegiate tournaments in the fall of 2018-19.

Bouvet (Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei) produced possibly the best performance by a Husker freshman in a career-opening event with her two-under-par 214 to tie for third individually in the 75-player field at the Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic in Fort Collins, Colo., Sept. 17-19. 

Bouvet’s second-round 68 tied for the third-best round ever by a Nebraska freshman. Bouvet was tied for the tournament lead with two-time All-Big Sky golfer Tara Finigan with three holes to play.

Bouvet closed the fall with a tie for second in the rain-shortened Rainbow Wahine Invitational, Oct. 31. She ranked second among the Huskers with a 74.00 stroke average in the fall.

“Vanessa is a power player with the length to be comfortable on any golf course,” Nebraska Coach Robin Krapfl said. “Her experience in growing up and playing golf around the world will be an added benefit to our entire team.”

Another powerful young player, Baete produced one of the best tournaments by a freshman in school history with her 210 (-6) in helping the Huskers win the Westbrook Spring Invitational (Feb. 24-25). Baete (Beatrice, Neb.) notched her first career top-25 finish by tying for fifth in a loaded field. Her second-round 66 was the best round by a freshman in school history. 

Baete was the 2016 Nebraska Class B State High School Champion and enjoyed a strong redshirt season in 2017-18.

“Kirsten is coming off a redshirt season where she made big strides in her game,” Krapfl said. “It will be exciting to see what she can accomplish. She has the length to really put herself in great scoring situations.”

Adjustments Help Haley Thiele Improve Game as Junior Haley Thiele battled the continuing effects of a wrist injury in 2017-18, after the injury kept her off the course as a redshirt in 2016-17. 

During the summer of 2018, Thiele made significant adjustments to her swing and began seeing the fruits of her labor during qualifying rounds for the Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic. 

Thiele continued to see those improved results in Colorado, finishing in a tie for 35th (228) at the Ram Fall Classic. Thiele improved her scores (77-76-75) with each round at the season-opening tournament.

The improvement continued the following week back in Colorado at the Golfweek Conference Challenge (Sept. 24-26). Thiele led the Huskers with a three-round total of 219 to tie for 21st. Her effort included a then-season-best 69 in the final round.

Thiele helped the Huskers to a tournament title at Westbrook with a season-best 68 (-4) in the second round, after shooting an even-par 72 in the opening round. She finished in a tie for 35th with a season-best 218 for the tournament.

Although Thiele may experience some ups and downs that go along with making major swing adjustments, she has the potential to return to the form she showed as one of the nation’s top junior players.

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 then-overall NU record with a 54-hole score of 209.

Sophomore Ahmed Shoots for Solid Second Season Noor Ahmed (Folsom, Calif.) became a key player in Nebraska’s lineup as a true freshman in 2017-18. After battling her way into the lineup at times during the fall season, she became a fixture in the Huskers’ top five in the spring of 2018. She went on to post Nebraska’s No. 2 finish with her tie for 40th at the Big Ten Championships.

Ahmed enjoyed a career-best two-under-par 70 in the final round at the 2018 Westbrook Spring Invitational (Feb. 26). It was her first collegiate round better than par. She finished fourth among the Huskers with her 76.45 stroke average in 2017-18.

Ahmed joins Kate Smith as the only returning Huskers to compete in all 29 rounds for Nebraska in 2017-18. Ahmed was a member of the Husker lineup in all 15 rounds during the 2018 spring season, and she opened her sophomore year with lineup spots at the Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic and the Golfweek Conference Challenge. 

She finished the fall strong with five consecutive rounds of 73 or better to lower her fall stroke average to 76.00. Ahmed’s start to the spring was even better with a career-best tie for ninth at the Lady Puerto Rico Class (Feb. 10-12), when she fired rounds of 74-72-72 to close at 218.

Ahmed, Smith Faces of the Big Ten Noor Ahmed gained national exposure when she was featured by the Golf Channel for her courage while encountering discrimination. Ahmed is the first NCAA Division I golfer to compete while wearing a hijab - the traditional head covering worn in public by Muslim women.

Ahmed and Husker teammate Kate Smith were featured together in the Golf Channel piece, and the good friends will be featured among the Faces of the Big Ten created by the Big Ten Network in 2018-19.

Hannah Thiele Hopes to Fight Pain to Contend for Spots Hannah Thiele was one of the state of Nebraska’s top high school and junior golfers for four years at Wahoo Bishop Neumann before battling a back injury as a high school senior. The injury hampered her as a freshman at Nebraska, but she managed to compete for the Huskers and claimed Nebraska’s Big Ten Sportsmanship Award in 2018.

The 2015 and 2016 Nebraska Golf Association Girls’ Amateur of the Year, Thiele was the youngest player in history to win the Nebraska Women’s Stroke Play and Match Play tournaments, sweeping the titles in 2016 at age 18. Thiele also finished fourth at the 2016 Optimist International Junior Championship in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

As a freshman in 2017-18, Thiele competed in 22 rounds and was one of six golfers to represent the Huskers at the 2018 Big Ten Championships.

Smith Continues Minnesota Connection Kate Smith, a junior from Detroit Lakes, Minn., continues an outstanding tradition of top golfers from the state of Minnesota playing at Nebraska. Smith, who set Nebraska’s single-season stroke average record (73.66) for the second straight year in 2018, also qualified for the 2017 NCAA Central Regional.

Smith is the latest in a nearly continuous flow of Huskers from the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Cassie Deeg (Hugo, 2013-16), Steffi Neisen (New Prague, 2011-14),  Chrissie McArdle (Eden Prairie, 2004-07) and Jackie Beste (2003-06) were all standout golfers for the Big Red. 

The 2018-19 season marks the ninth straight year Nebraska has had a Minnesota golfer in its lineup.  

Smith is the only five-time individual state champion in Minnesota high school history. She capped her career by claiming a share of her record fifth title on June 15, 2016 while leading Detroit Lakes High School to its fourth state team championship in the past five years. She was also the winner of the 2016 Minnesota Ms. Golf Award. 

Big Red Face Solid Schedule The Huskers face another strong schedule in 2018-19, beginning with the Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic in Fort Collins, Colo., Sept. 17-19.

Nebraska continued play in Colorado at the Golfweek Conference Challenge in Vail, Colo., Sept. 24-26, before wrapping up a three-tournament Colorado road trip at the Ron Moore Intercollegiate in Highlands Ranch, Colo., Oct. 5-7.

The Huskers competed at the UNLV Collegiate Showdown in Boulder City, Nev., Oct. 21-23, before concluding the fall campaign with a visit to the Rainbow Wahine Invitational in Kapolei, Hawaii, Oct. 31.

The Big Red opened the spring portion of their campaign at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic in Rio Grande, P.R., Feb. 10-12, before winning the Westbrook Spring Invitational in Peoria, Ariz., Feb. 24-25.

The Huskers return to Arizona for the Clover Cup in Mesa, Ariz., March 15-17, before closing the regular season at the Lady Buckeye Spring Invitational in Columbus, Ohio, April 13-14.

Nebraska returns to Maineville, Ohio, to compete at the Big Ten Championships, April 19-21, 2019. The Huskers will compete for the conference crown on the Arnold Palmer-designed Tournament Players Club River’s Bend Course, which will serve as the host to the conference tournament for the third straight season. 

NCAA Regional competitions will be held in Auburn, Ala., Cle Elum, Wash., East Lansing, Mich., and Norman, Okla., May 6-8, before the NCAA Championships are held at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark., May 17-22.