Huskers Open New Era in New Mexico

The Nebraska women's golf team hits the course for the first time for the 2019-20 season, when the Huskers travel to New Mexico for the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational, Sept. 9-10.

The 15-team tournament on the University of New Mexico Championship Course will serve as the debut for first-year Nebraska Head Coach Lisa Johnson. The Gonzaga grad spent 12 seasons as the head coach at Idaho before replacing Robin Krapfl at the helm of the Husker program. Krapfl, who retired in May, spent 32 seasons as Nebraska's head coach.

Johnson led Idaho to Big Sky Conference championships in 2016 and 2018, and was named the Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in both 2010 and 2012. She led three Idaho teams to NCAA Regional appearances (2010, 2016, 2018).

Johnson has an experienced group of Huskers returning for her first campaign in Lincoln, including eight returning letterwinners led by seniors Kate Smith and Haley Thiele. Smith has led Nebraska on the course the past three seasons, including a school-record 73.52 stroke average in 2018-19. Smith, a five-time Minnesota High School state champion at Detroit Lakes, earned an NCAA Regional appearance as a freshman in 2017.

Thiele, a fifth-year senior from Wahoo, Neb., produced Nebraska's fourth-best stroke average (76.93) a year ago after battling injuries for two years. Thiele produced one of the top freshman seasons in school history in 2015-16. As a junior golfer, Thiele was the Trusted Choice Big "I" National Champion in 2015.

Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational
Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Host: University of New Mexico
Course: UNM Championship Course (Par 72, 6,317 Yards)
Monday, Sept. 9 (Shotgun) - 1st & 2nd rounds - 8:30 a.m. (CT)
Tuesday, Sept. 10 (Shotgun) - 3rd round -  8:30 a.m. (CT)
Live Scoring: GolfStat.com

Participating Teams (15)     
Colorado State, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Kent State, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Ole Miss, Pepperdine, San Diego State, UC Davis, UNLV

Nebraska Lineup
1. Megan Whittaker
2. Kate Smith
3. Leah Herzog
4. Vanessa Bouvet
5. Haley Thiele

Huskers Make First Trip to Dick McGuire Invite Since 1997
The Huskers will be seeking their first top-10 finish in their sixth trip to Albuquerque, when they face an impressive 15-team field at the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational, Sept. 9-10.

Seven of the 15 teams advanced to 2019 NCAA Regional action, including Ole Miss (T14th), Kent State (17th) and Indiana (21st), which all advanced to the 24-team NCAA Championship in Fayetteville, Ark. Mississippi State (T9th) and Pepperdine (15th) competed at the NCAA Norman Regional, while Iowa State (11th) and San Diego State (12th) competed at the Cle Elum Regional last season.

Nebraska, Iowa, Colorado State, Idaho, UNLV, Nevada, UC Davis and the hosts from New Mexico complete the field that with take on the Par 72, 6,317-yard layout of the UNM Championshp Course.

Nebraska's trip to New Mexico to open the season will mark the Huskers' first appearance at the Dick McGuire Invitational since the fall of 1997.  NU appeared for the first time at the Dick McGuire Invite in the fall of 1988 (15th/18) - former coach Robin Krapfl's second season at Nebraska. The Huskers made return trips in the fall of 1990 (T13th/16), 1991 (11th/18) and 1995 (11th/18), before making their last trip in 1997 (14th/18). 

NU Lineup Filled With Experience, Features One Fresh Face
The five-player Nebraska lineup for the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational features a pair of seniors among four returners to the Husker lineup and one true freshman.

Fifth-year senior Haley Thiele (Wahoo, Neb.) and senior Kate Smith (Detroit Lakes, Minn.) are joined by sophomores Vanessa Bouvet (Brunei) and Megan Whittaker (Elkhorn, Neb.) who were both regulars in the Husker lineup last spring. Bouvet competed in 24 rounds and posted a 75.79 stroke average in her first season. She added a pair of top-five tournament finishes by tying for second at the Rainbow Wahine Invite after opening the season by tying for third at the Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic.

Whittaker showed continual improvement throughout the season and posted a 77.81 stroke average. She also matched Smith for Nebraska's top finish at the Big Ten Championship by tying for 51st, including an opening-round 75.

The four experienced Huskers are being joined by freshman Leah Herzog (Red Wing, Minn.) in the lineup for the season opener.

Herzog was named Minnesota Ms. Golf in May before leading Red Wing to a Class 2A state team title. She posted a 69.4 scoring average as a high school senior and finished as the Class 2A individual runner-up. She was a four-time all-state selection.

Smith Shoots for Another Record-Setting Season
Senior Kate Smith will take aim at her best season yet, as she opens the 2019-20 campaign.  A three-year starter in the Husker lineup, Smith has played 87 rounds and owns a Nebraska-record 73.70 career stroke average. Her 73.52 stroke average last season was a school record. In 2016-17, Smith set the Nebraska freshman record with a 73.90 stroke average while earning a spot in the 2017 NCAA Regional field.

She finished 2018-19 No. 223 in the GolfStat player rankings and owns 20 career top-25 individual tournament finishes. She has also won three career Big Ten Golfer-of-the-Week awards.
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) to finish as the runner-up.

She has fired 24 rounds better than par in her career, including a school-record 64 (-8) in the second round of the 2018 Westbrook Invite. 

Thiele Swinging for Best Season as Fifth-Year Senior
Haley Thiele competed in all 27 rounds in the Nebraska lineup in 2018-19, after two seasons of battling injuries. Thiele redshirted in 2016-17, and suffered the lingering effects of a wrist injury in 2017-18. 

During the summer of 2018, Thiele made significant adjustments to her swing and began seeing the fruits of her labor as a junior last season, when she finished with a 76.93 stroke average. 
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.

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. 

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.

Thiele owns a 77.02 stroke average over 85 career rounds for the Huskers.

2019 Freshmen Looking to Shine as Sophomores
Vanessa Bouvet, Kirsten Baete and Megan Whittaker all made significant impacts on the Nebraska lineup as freshmen in 2018-19.

Bouvet produced Nebraska's No. 2 stroke average on the season and one of the best averages by a freshman in school history (75.79) while competing in 24 rounds for the Huskers. 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. Bouvet's second-round 68 tied for the third-best round ever by a Nebraska freshman. She closed the fall with a tie for second in the rain-shortened Rainbow Wahine Invitational, Oct. 31. 

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. She added a tie for 29th (229) at the Lady Buckeye Invitational (April 13-14) after tying for 30th with a 229 at the Clover Cup (March 15-17). Her 77.00 stroke average ranked fifth on the team last season, and she joined Kate Smith and Haley Thiele as the only Huskers to compete in all 27 rounds on the year.

Megan Whittaker came on strong throughout the spring of 2019 and finished with NU's No. 6 stroke average (77.81) on the season. She made her first career lineup appearance at the Lady Buckeye Invitational (April 13-14) before matching Nebraska's top finish (T51st) at the Big Ten Championship. She was Nebraska's top qualifier for the 2019-20 season-opening Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational.

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 were featured among the Faces of the Big Ten created by the Big Ten Network in 2018-19. That feature will continue to air across the network in 2019-20.

Ahmed, who has since been featured by several national and international magazines, finished 2018-19 with Nebraska's No. 3 overall stroke average (76.56), while competing in 25 rounds. She produced the best finish of her career by tying for ninth at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic to open the 2019 spring season.

Smith, Herzog Continue Minnesota Connection
Kate Smith, a senior from Detroit Lakes, and Leah Herzog, a freshman from Red Wing, continue an outstanding tradition of top golfers from the state of Minnesota playing at Nebraska. Smith, who set Nebraska's single-season stroke average record (73.52) for the third straight year in 2019, also qualified for the 2017 NCAA Central Regional.  Smith enters her final season at Nebraska with a school-record 73.90 career stroke average. No other Husker in history owns a career average better than 75.

Herzog 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 2019-20 season marks the 10th straight year Nebraska has had at least one Minnesota golfer in its lineup. The last time Nebraska had two Minnesota golfers in its lineup was 2015-16 when Deeg and Neisen played out of the top of the Husker 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. Herzog won the 2019 Minnesota Ms. Golf Award at Red Wing High School. 

Big Red Face Solid Schedule
The Huskers face another strong schedule in 2019-20, beginning with the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M. (Sept. 9-10). 

Nebraska continues play at the Golfweek Conference Challenge in Vail, Colo., Sept. 23-25. It will be the fourth time in the past six seasons that the Huskers have competed at Golfweek.

The Huskers play their lone tournament in October at the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational in Sammamish, Wash., Oct. 8-9, before closing the fall in the Battle at the Beach at San Jose Del Cabo, Mexico, Nov. 1-3.

The Big Red open the spring for the third consecutive season at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic in Rio Grande, P.R. (Feb. 9-11), before defending their 2019 tournament title at the Westbrook Spring Invitational in Peoria, Ariz. (Feb. 23-24).

The Huskers return to Arizona for the eighth consecutive year to compete in the Clover Cup in Mesa (March 13-15), before traveling to Maui for the Anuenue Spring Break Classic (March 23-25).

Nebraska closes the regular season with its first-ever appearance at the Bruzzy Challenge in Argyle, Texas, March 30-31, before returning to Maineville, Ohio, to compete at the Big Ten Championships (April 24-26). 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 fourth straight season. 

NCAA Regional competitions will be hosted by Georgia, North Carolina State, Notre Dame and Washington State (May 11-13) before the NCAA Championships are held at the Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. (May 22-27).

Huskers Set Pace in Classroom
Nebraska leads the nation with 338 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans and 17 NCAA Top 10 Award winners across all sports. Nebraska women's golf leads the nation with 77 WGCA Scholastic All-Americans since 1989.