Kirsten Baete produced a three-round total of 223 to lead the Nebraska women's golf team at the season-opening Wolverine Invitational in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Tuesday.
The fifth-year senior from Beatrice, Nebraska, opened the tournament with an even-par 71. Baete produced 17 consecutive pars across her final 13 holes of the first round and the first four holes of her second round on Monday. She managed rounds of 76 in the second and third rounds to tie for 40th individually in the 90-player field.
The Huskers tied for 14th in the 16-team field that included 12 teams that earned NCAA Regional bids last season. Nebraska's three-round total of 915 matched Big Ten counterpart Indiana, while the Huskers and Hoosiers finished just one shot back of Notre Dame. Michigan won the team title with a score of 851 (-1) on its home course, while Virginia finished second at 863 (+11).
"We learned a lot about our games this week on the challenging Alister MacKenzie course," Nebraska Head Coach Lisa Johnson said. "We had some solid rounds, and this gives us a starting point to build."
Nebraska's Megan Whittaker closed the tournament with solid rounds of 73 and 74, after struggling with an 83 in the opening round on Monday. The senior from Elkhorn, Nebraska, tied for 58th with a 54-hole score of 230 (+17) on the par-71, 6,232-yard layout of the University of Michigan Golf Course.
Sophomore Michaela Vavrova (Bojnice, Slovakia) was NU's No. 3 finisher in a tie for 65th (233), while fellow sophomore Lindsey Thiele (Wahoo, Nebraska) took 76th (237). Freshman Miu Takahashi (Nasu-machi, Japan) rounded out the Husker contingent with a three-round score of 238 (T77th) in her collegiate debut.
Michigan's Mikaela Schulz and Iowa State's Liyana Durisic shared medalist honors with 54-hole scores of 210 (-3), three shots ahead of Siyan Chen (213) from Illinois.
Nebraska returns to action next week at the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational at Colbert Hills Golf Club in Manhattan, Kansas. The two-day tournament begins on Monday with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m.
Wolverine Invitational
Ann Arbor, Michigan
University of Michigan Golf Course
Par 72, 6,232 Yards
Sept. 13-14, 2021
Final Team Results
1. Michigan - 280-282-289=851 (-1)
2. Virginia - 288-286-289=863 (+11)
3. Virginia Tech - 289-286-293=868 (+16)
4. Iowa State - 297-279-295=871 (+19)
5. Illinois - 294-291-293=878 (+26)
6. Louisville - 285-293-301=879 (+27)
7. Kent State - 300-284-297=881 (+29)
8. Northwestern - 293-296-295=884 (+32)
T9. Ohio State - 299-288-300=887 (+35)
T9. Kentucky - 292-298-297=887 (+35)
11. Washington - 300-292-301=893 (+41)
12. Xavier - 303-300-309=912 (+60)
13. Notre Dame - 303-292-319=914 (+62)
T14. Nebraska - 306-301-308=915 (+63)
T14. Indiana - 299-305-311=915 (+63)
16. Toledo - 316-322-315=953 (+101)
Final Individual Results
T1. Mikaela Schulz, Michigan - 68-70-72=210 (-3)
T1. Liyana Durisic, Iowa State - 71-67-72=210 (-3)
3. Siyan Chen, Illinois - 73-72-68=213 (E)
T4. Ashley Lau, Michigan - 73-69-72=214 (+1)
T4. Jennifer Cleary, Virginia - 73-71-70=214 (+1)
T6. Amanda Sambach, Virginia - 69-73-73=215 (+2)
T6. Hailey Borja, Michigan - 70-71-74=215 (+2)
T8. Crystal Wang, Illinois - 73-69-74=216 (+3)
T8. Aneka Seumanutafa, Ohio State - 74-66-76=216 (+3)
T8. Lauryn Nguyen, Northwestern - 73-71-72=216 (+3)
Nebraska Individuals
T40. Kirsten Baete - 71-76-76=223 (+10)
T58. Megan Whittaker - 83-73-74=230 (+17)
T65. Michaela Vavrova - 78-75-80=233 (+20)
76. Lindsey Thiele - 78-77-82=237 (+24)
T77. Miu Takahashi - 79-81-78=238 (+25)
Kirsten Baete was Nebraska's top finisher at the Wolverine Invitational.