Takahashi Takes Nebraska Women's Amateur Title

Miu Takahashi fired a final-round 74 to capture the 49th Nebraska Women's Amateur Championship at Fremont Golf Club on Thursday, Aug. 3.

Takahashi, a junior-to-be on the Nebraska women's golf team, closed the 54-hole tournament at 225 (+12), edging 2023 Nebraska Junior Amateur champion Julia Karmazin by one stroke. Danica Badura (South Dakota) of Aurora and Katie Ruge (Kansas) from Omaha tied for third at 227 (+14).

Takahashi (Nasu-machi, Japan) opened the tournament with an even-par 71 on Monday, before battling her way to an 80 on Tuesday. The final round, which was originally scheduled for Wednesday, slid back to Thursday because of conditions in Fremont on Wednesday. Takahashi entered the final round in a tie for third at 151, three strokes back of Ruge (148) and one shot behind Wahoo's Lauren Thiele (Wichita State).

The road to the championship seemed much more unlikely after Takahashi took a quadruple bogey on No. 3. She finished the front nine at 41 (+6). However, she regrouped on the back nine to play spectacular golf that included birdies on No. 10, No. 13 and No. 17 to close with a 33 (-3) over the final nine holes and a one stroke win. Ruge settled for a 41 (+5) on the back nine, while Thiele managed a 38 (+2) after matching Takahashi's 41 (+6) on the front. Karmazin played solid golf with an even-par 35 on the front Thursday, before settling for a 38 on the back, leaving just enough room for Takahashi to surge to the title.

Takahashi will be back in action next week when she participates alongside teammate Kelli Ann Strand at the 123rd U.S. Women's Amateur Championship at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles (Aug. 7-13).