Huskers Continue Fall Campaign in Colorado

The Nebraska women’s golf team heads into its second tournament of the season at the Col. Wollenberg Ptarmigan Invitational in Fort Collins, Colo. (Sept. 22-23).

The two-day, 54-hole event hosted by Colorado State on the 6,343-yard, par-72 layout of the Ptarmigan Golf Club opens with an 9:30 a.m. (CT) shotgun start for two rounds of continuous play on Monday, Sept. 22. Following Monday’s 36 holes, the tournament concludes with the final round on Tuesday, Sept. 23 with a shotgun start at 9:30 a.m. (CT). 

Nebraska joins Washington as Big Ten Conference representatives in a 13-team field that includes BYU, Cal Poly, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, Colorado, Grand Canyon, UC Davis, UC Riverside, UNLV, Wyoming and the hosts from Colorado State.

The Huskers are coming off an eighth-place finish at the 13-team Sam Golden Invitational in Corinth, Texas (Sept. 8-9).

Jessica Jolly, a transfer from Illinois State, kicked off her Husker debut by firing off a 54-hole total of 211(-5) that tied her for 19th in a 72-player field at the Sam Golden Invitational (Sept. 8-9). The sophomore from Rockford, Mich., was an All-Missouri Valley Conference performer a year ago for Coach Breanne Hall at Illinois State, helping the Redbirds to the league title and an NCAA Regional trip. Jolly posted a 75.36 stroke average over 33 rounds last season.

Brooke Bream, earned her first spot in the Husker lineup at the Sam Golden Invitational. She tied for 25th with a career-best 54-hole total of 212 (-4) with the first two rounds including back-to-back career-best rounds of 70 (-2). 

Junior, Hannah Kono posted solid scores throught last week’s tournament in Texas with a three-round total of 213 (-3). Kono will occupy the No. 3 spot in the Big Red lineup after posting a 74.93 stroke average over 30 rounds in her first season as a Husker in 2024-25.

Kaleigh Babineaux, a freshman from Austin, Texas, earned the No.5 spot in the Husker lineup.  Babineaux, a true freshman out of Lake Travis High School, played as an individual outside the Nebraska lineup in her collegiate debut at the Sam Golden Invitational posting a three-round total of 219 (+3).

Colonel Wollenberg Ptarmigan Ram Invitational
Fort Collins, Colo.
Colorado State
Ptarmigan Golf Club (Par 72, 6,492 Yards)

Schedule
Monday, Sept. 22 (Rounds 1 & 2) - 9:30 a.m. (CT) - Shotgun
Tuesday, Sept. 23 (Round 3) - 9:30 a.m. (CT) - Shotgun

Live Scoring - Scoreboard.clippd.com

Participating Teams (14) 
BYU, Cal Poly, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, Colorado, Colorado State, Fresno State, Grand Canyon, Nebraska, UC Davis, UC Riverside, UNLV, Washington, Wyoming

Nebraska Lineup (5-count-4)
1. Jessica Jolly, So., Richland, Michigan
2. Brooke Bream, RSr., Phoenix, Arizona
3. Hannah Kono, Jr., Enkoping, Sweden
4. Danica Lundgren, So., Austin, Texas
5. Kaleigh Babineaux, Fr., Austin, Texas
IND - Lauren Thiele, RJr., Wahoo, Nebraska

Hall Takes Reins of Husker Program as Nebraska’s Sixth Head Coach
With a proven record of helping aspiring young golfers drastically improve their games, first-year Nebraska Head Coach Breanne Hall inherits a roster filled with nine returning Huskers and one transfer who followed her from Illinois State.  However, among the 12 golfers on Nebraska’s roster, nine will be in either their first or second seasons as Huskers.

A three-time Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year, Hall was named the sixth head coach of the Nebraska women’s golf program on May 15, 2025 after Coach Jeanne Sutherland announced her retirement.

Hall won back-to-back MVC Coach-of-the-Year honors at Illinois State in 2024 and 2025. She led the Redbirds to three NCAA Tournament appearances over the past four seasons and was also the 2022 Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year.

Hall’s 2025 Illinois State team won the Missouri Valley Conference title by 31 strokes before finishing 11th at the NCAA Columbus Regional. In 2024, Illinois State won the Missouri Valley Conference title by 12 strokes with Ali Schrock sharing the tournament title. The Redbirds went on to finish 12th at the NCAA East Lansing Regional.

The Redbirds earned their first conference title under Hall’s direction in 2022 and their first MVC title in a decade, edging Missouri State by one stroke and capping the year with a 12th-place finish at the NCAA Stillwater Regional.

During her time at Illinois State, Hall coached three MVC Golfers of the Year and 15 all-conference selections. Her teams produced the five best single-season scoring averages in school history over the past five years.

Prior to taking over the top spot at Illinois State, Hall spent a season recruiting a roster before serving as the head coach for two seasons at UNC Asheville (2016-18). As the first head coach in history of the fledgling program, Hall led UNC Asheville to a pair of tournament titles in the first two seasons of the program’s existence. Her team posted a nine-stroke improvement in scoring average from year one to year two.

Husker All-American Kate Smith Competing on 2025 LPGA Tour
Former Husker Kate Smith-Stroh captured her LPGA Tour Card for the 2025 season by tying for 19th at the LPGA Q-Series Final Qualifying Stage in Mobile, Ala., Dec. 10.

Smith-Stroh, an All-American and Big Ten Champion for Nebraska as a fifth-year senior in 2021, put together five solid rounds in Alabama to finish with a total of 350 (-8) with rounds of 69-71-67-72-71 on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail - Magnolia Grove to secure a spot on the world’s premier women’s golf tour this season.

One of the best golfers in Nebraska history, Smith-Stroh competed on the Epson Tour (2022-24). During the 2023 season, she competed in 22 events and made 19 cuts, while recording four top-10 finishes. She tied for second at the Four Winds Invitational. She added 19 events while making 13 cuts in 2024, including two more top-10 finishes.

She was ranked 33rd in the Race for the Card entering Q-Series Final Qualifying.

Smith-Stroh has earned nearly $100,000 in her first season on the LPGA Tour, including her first career top-10 finish at the Dow Championship in late June. Her tie for 10th at 265 (-15) over four rounds earned her just over $35,000. She added a tie for 18th at 276 (-12) at The Standard Portland Classic in mid-August to take home more than $25,000.

In 14 tournaments in her first season on the LPGA Tour, Smith-Stroh has made six cuts.

The native of Detroit Lakes, Minn., made history during her time at Nebraska. The two-time first-team All-Big Ten award winner stormed to the Big Ten Championship with a school-record 64 (-8) in the final round at TPC River’s Bend in Maineville, Ohio. She was named a third-team All-American by Golfweek and an honorable-mention All-American by the WGCA before becoming the first Husker to compete in the Arnold Palmer Cup, helping the United States to a title. She was also the first Husker to compete in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in 2021.

Kono Hoping to Make Step Forward in Second Season as Husker
Hannah Kono produced Nebraska’s No. 2 stroke average (74.93) in her first year as a Husker in 2024-25. The transfer from Oakland University earned four top-25 finishes as a Husker, after finishing sixth at the 2024 Horizon League Championship.

Kono fired a career-best 213 (-3) to lead Nebraska with a tie for 21st individually at the Westbrook Spring Invitational in Peoria, Ariz. (Feb. 23-24).

Kono’s performance included career-best first and second rounds of 70 (-2) on the 6,248-yard layout of the Vistas Course at the Westbrook Village Golf Club.

Kono closed the fall with a then-career-best 218 (+2) to finish 16th at the Hurricane Invitational in Coral Gables, Fla. The native of Enkoping, Sweden, put together consistent rounds of 73, 72 and 73 on the par-72, 6,175-yard layout at the Biltmore Golf Club to earn her best finish as a Huskers.

She opened her Husker career with a tie for 18th at the Badger Invitational with a 224.

Thiele Takes 2025 Nebraska Women’s Match Play Championship
Lauren Thiele defeated Husker teammate Brooke Bream 1 up in the final to capture the 102nd Nebraska Women’s Match Play title at Hillcrest Country Club in Lincoln on July 31.

In a championship match that was delayed by morning rain in Lincoln, Bream was 2 up through 10 holes before Thiele won three straight holes to take her first lead of the match through 13. Bream answered with a win on No. 14 to square the match, before Thiele regained the lead with a win on No. 15. The Husker duo matched each other stroke for stroke on the final three holes, as Thiele claimed her first Women’s Match Play championship.

Lauren, a Wahoo native, follows in the family footsteps of her older sisters, Hannah (2016) and Lindsey (2023), as a Nebraska Women’s Match Play champion. Lauren was also the Nebraska Girls Match Play Champion in 2021.

Bream, a redshirt senior for the Huskers in 2025-26, played outstanding golf throughout the tournament to earn a spot in the final. She advanced to the finals with a win over fellow Husker Arden Louchheim in the semifinals, while Thiele rallied to defeated another fellow Husker, Olivia Lovegrove.

Lohrbach Storms to Nebraska Women’s Amateur Title
Husker women’s golfer Eden Lohrbach fired a final-round 69 (-3) to rally from a five-stroke deficit on her way to a four-shot victory over Omaha’s Katie Ruge on June 5 at the 51st Nebraska Women’s Amateur Championship at the Beatrice Country Club.

Lohrbach, a sophomore from Ames, Iowa, entered the final round at 151 after an even-par 72 (June 3) and a second-round 79 (June 4). Ruge held the tournament’s top spot through the first 36 holes after rounds of 70 and 76 to sit at 146 (+4).

But Lohrbach wasted little time in storming to the top of the leader board on the final day, recording four birdies on the front nine to overcome a bogey on No. 1 to take the turn with a three-under-par 33. That was enough to account for the nine-stroke swing as Ruge struggled with four bogeys and two double-bogeys on the front nine to head to the back at 42 (+9).

Lohrbach maintained her four-stroke lead with an even-par 36 on the back to finish with a three-round total of 220 (+4), while Ruge closed at 224 (+8).

In addition to Lohrbach’s title, Husker teammates Olivia Lovegrove (Lincoln) and Arden Louchheim (Park City, Utah) tied for third at 226 (+9). Lauren Thiele (Wahoo) added a top-10 finish by taking eighth at 231 (+15), while sisters Brooke and Mackenzie Bream tied for 13th at 232 (+16).

Sophomores Hoping to Make Splash in Second Seasons as Huskers