Huskers Journey to Gopher Invitational

The Nebraska men’s golf team continues its four-week season-opening stretch with four consecutive tournaments by traveling to the 2nd Swing Gopher Invitational in Independence, Minn., Sept. 7-8.

The two-day, 54-hole tournament at the Windsong Farm Golf Club gets underway with tee times off No. 1 and No. 10 at 7:15 a.m. (CT) on Sunday, Sept. 7 to start 36 holes of action on the first day of the event. The tournament concludes with tee times again off 1 and 10 at 7:15 a.m. (CT) on Monday, Sept. 8, for the final 18 holes.

Nebraska will be part of a 15-team field that includes Big Ten counterparts Rutgers, Wisconsin and the hosts from Minnesota, along with 2025 NCAA Regional qualifiers Furman, Little Rock, Louisville, Marquette, South Carolina and Texas A&M. Iowa State, Miami (Ohio), Northern Illinois, St. Thomas (Minn.) and West Virginia complete the field.

Although West Virginia did not earn an NCAA Regional bid a year ago, the Mountaineers put on an impressive display in winning the Island Resort Invitational in Nebraska’s first tournament (Aug. 31-Sept. 1). West Virginia posted an 809 (-55). The Huskers finished sixth in a 12-team field at the Sage Run Golf Club in Bark River, Mich., with a strong three-round score of 838 (-26), which was 11 strokes better than its best team total of 2024-25. It also marked the second-best team total in school history.

Caden Mickelson made an instant impact on the lineup by tying for 12th individually with a Nebraska freshman-record 207 (-9). The rookie from Kansas City, Mo., fired back-to-back rounds of 67 (-5) to close the tournament.

Jackson Benge matched Mickelson with a second-round 67 to help secure a top-25 finish in his first career appearance in the Husker lineup. The sophomore from Omaha Westside tied for 23rd with a career-best 210 (-6).

Mickelson and Benge will occupy the top two spots in the Nebraska lineup in Minnesota.

Rudy Sautron (212), Evan McDermott (213) and Brodie Cunningham (214) added top-40 finishes with subpar scores in an 84-player field in Michigan. That experienced trio will complete Nebraska’s five-golfer lineup at the Gopher Invitational. Sautron heads to Minnesota as the tournament’s defending champion after carding NU’s best three-round total of 2024-25 with a 208 (-5) in his Husker debut. Sautron finished with rounds of 69, 70 and 69 on last season’s par-71, 7,586-yard layout at Windsong Farm.

As a team, Nebraska closed with a three-round total of 865 (+13) to take third among 15 teams in last year’s Gopher Invite.

Live updates and scoring for the Gopher Invitational can be found at HuskersGolf on Instagram and X, and Scoreboard.clippd.com. Complete coverage can be found at Huskers.com.

2nd Swing Gopher Invitational
Independence, Minnesota
Windsong Farm (Par 71, Yardage 7,586)

Schedule
Sunday, Sept. 7 (Rounds 1 & 2) - 7:15 a.m. CT (tee times)
Monday, Sept. 8 (Round 3) - 7:15 a.m. CT (tee times)

Live Scoring: Scoreboard.clippd.com

Participating Teams (15) 

Husker Trio Named Big Ten Golfers to Watch
The Nebraska trio of Rudy Sautron, Evan McDermott and Brodie Cunningham were included in the group of Big Ten Golfers to Watch for the 2025-26 men’s golf season. The golfers to watch were announced by the conference Aug. 27.

Sautron, a junior from Reunion Island, France, rewrote the Nebraska record book in his first season with the Huskers, setting the school stroke average record (71.70) while helping NU set the team single-season stroke average record (288.38). He produced four top-10 finishes, including a tournament title in his NCAA Division I debut at the Gopher Invitational (Sept. 8-9) with a school sophomore record 208 (-5). He closed the fall with another record-setting performance, firing a school-record 63 (-9) in the final round of the Steelwood Collegiate to tie his own sophomore record with a 208 (-8). Sautron also finished with a team-leading six eagles on the season.

McDermott, a redshirt junior from Spring Lake, Mich., was a consistent contributor to the Nebraska lineup in 2024-25. He closed with a 73.44 stroke average over 32 rounds, which ranked as the second-best average by a sophomore in school history. McDermott and Hamish Murray were the only Huskers to compete in all 32 rounds for NU last year. McDermott ended the season with four top-25 individual finishes.

Cunningham added one of the best freshman seasons ever by a Nebraska golfer with a school freshman-record 72.61 stroke average over 23 rounds in 2024-25. The young player from Glasgow, Scotland also tied the Husker single-round freshman record with a 66 (-4) in the final round of the Tiger Intercollegiate (April 8).

Cunningham became a consistent force for the Huskers in the spring with four straight top-15 finishes, including a tie for 14th to lead NU to a season-best runner-up finish at the Robert Kepler Invitational (April 18-19). He managed rounds of 73, 72 and 77 to finish at 222 (+9) on the par-71, 7,455-yard layout of the Scarlet Course in Columbus, Ohio. His effort in Ohio included his fourth eagle of the season on the par-5 fourth hole in the second round (April 17).

Sautron Won Gopher Title in 2024-25 Nebraska Debut
Rudy Sautron made his NCAA Division I debut by capturing the tournament title at the 2024-25 season-opening Gopher Invitational (Sept. 8-9).

A transfer from NCAA Division II Cameron University in Oklahoma, Sautron tied the Nebraska sophomore tournament record with a 208 (-5) at the Windsong Farm Golf Club.

Sautron’s three-round total included an opening-round 69 (-2) that featured Nebraska’s first eagle of the season on No. 18. He added a second-round 70 (-1) before closing with a final-round 69 (-2). His 208 matched the NU sophomore record set by former PGA pro Brady Schnell (2004-05) and Seth Porter (1999-2000).

Sautron’s effort earned him a share of the first 2024-25 Big Ten Men’s Golfer-of-the-Week award (Sept. 12). He added a second top-five finish with his tie for third to help the Huskers to another third-place finish in a loaded 13-team field at the Qubein Cup in Greensboro, N.C. (Oct. 14-15). Sautron finished with a three-round total of 213 (+3) that included an opening-round 69 (-1).

He closed the fall by tying his Husker sophomore record with a 208 (-8) at the Steelwood Collegiate (Oct. 26-27), which included a school-record 63 (-9) in the final round. Sautron added a fourth top-10 finish by tying for eighth at The Johnnie-O (March 17-18) with a two-round total of 139 (-1).

He capped his first season as a Husker by earning PING All-Midwest Region honors from the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA).

Sautron got his second season as a Husker off to a solid start with a 212 (-4) to tie for 31st at the Island Resort Invitational (Aug. 31-Sept. 1).

Huskers Hope to Break Through with 2026 NCAA Bid
Nebraska believes its 10-man roster has the ingredients to break through with its first team NCAA Regional berth since 2007.

Nebraska, which has been making significant jumps in the final national rankings in each of Coach Judd Cornell’s three seasons, including a No. 83 ranking to end 2024-25, has a balanced roster with experienced seniors and talented juniors and sophomores leading the way.

Fourth-year Husker seniors Quinn Yost (50 rounds) and Davis Johnson (32 rounds) have seen significant time in Nebraska’s lineup during their careers. Both help set a competitive tone each day in practice and both provide great leadership off the course in the classroom and in the community.

Two-time NCAA Division II All-Midwest Region selection Bryson Oots adds to the talent and experience of Nebraska’s 2026 senior class. The summer signee out of William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo., could add an important piece to Nebraska’s lineup throughout the season.

Juniors Rudy Sautron and Evan McDermott have experience playing in the heart of Nebraska’s lineup. Both were leaders for the Big Red as sophomores in 2024-25, and both are focused on continuing NU’s drive for postseason play.

Brodie Cunningham leads a talented sophomore class that includes Jackson Benge and James Ackerman. Cunningham set Nebraska’s freshman stroke average record a year ago, while Benge got a strong taste of collegiate action. Cunningham and Benge will be playing among the top five in Nebraska’s lineup for the second straight tournament at the Gopher Invitational.

Freshmen Caden Mickelson and Thomas Bryson hope to make impacts on the Husker lineup in their first season. Both players were individual high school state champions and four-time all-state selections during their prep careers. Mickelson earned the top spot in the Nebraska lineup at the Gopher Invitational (Sept. 7-8) after taking NU’s top finish (T12th) with a school freshman-record 207 (-9) at the season-opening Island Resort Invitational (Aug. 31-Sept. 1).

Oots Joins Nebraska as Senior Transfer
Bryson Oots became the most recent addition to the Nebraska roster when the Kansas City native joined the Huskers on July 1, 2025.

Oots, who was the Kenneth Smith Award winner as the Kansas City male high school golfer of the year in 2022, spent his first three collegiate seasons at NCAA Division II William Jewell.

A two-time PING All-Midwest Region pick at the Liberty, Mo., school, Oots produced a 72.17 stroke average over 34 rounds last season and captured four individual tournament titles on his way to a second consecutive trip to the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional.

The Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Year in 2024-25, Oots was a two-time first-team All-GLVC performer.

He continues a recent trend of successful NCAA Division II players transferring to Nebraska, including current Husker Rudy Sautron and 2025 NU senior Hamish Murray, who both came to the Big Red from Cameron University in Oklahoma.

NU Adds Pair of Talented Freshmen For 2025-26 Season
Thomas Bryson (Lincoln, Neb.) and Caden Mickelson (Kansas City, Mo.) signed letters of intent to join the Husker program in November of 2024, and both bring impressive credentials.

Bryson brings a rich family tradition with him from Lincoln Southeast High School. Bryson’s father, Kevin, was a four-year letterman for the Husker men’s golf program from 2000 to 2003, while his mother, Beth Anne (Cherry), was a four-year letterwinner for the Husker women’s golf team from 2002 to 2005.

Thomas was a four-year Nebraska Super-State pick after winning the Class A individual state title as a freshman at Lincoln Southeast in 2022. He was also the 2021 Nebraska Junior PGA Champion and the 2022 Nebraska Amateur of the Year.

Mickelson, who was the Kansas City metro area high school player of the year in 2025, was the Missouri Class 5 state champion in 2023 before adding runner-up finishes at state in 2024 and 2025. He was the No. 1 recruit in the state of Missouri in 2025 and a four-time Missouri Class 5 All-State selection.

Mickelson was Nebraska’s top finisher with a school freshman record 207 (-9) at the season-opening Island Resort Invitational (Aug. 31-Sept. 1), before earning the top spot in the Husker lineup for the Gopher Invitational (Sept. 7-8).

Schedule to Challenge Huskers From Start to Finish
The Huskers opened 2025-26 with a sixth-place finish and an 838 (-26) at the Island Resort Invitational in Michigan (Aug. 31-Sept. 1), before traveling to the Gopher Invitational (Sept. 7-8). NU journeys to Cincinnati for Bearcat Invitational (Sept. 15-16), before capping four straight weeks of action at the Git-R-Done Invitational at Firethorn Golf Club in Lincoln (Sept. 22-23).

After a three-week break, the Big Red head to Indiana for the Purdue Fall Invitational (Oct. 13-14), then close the fall at the Steelwood Collegiate in Loxley, Ala. (Oct. 25-26).

The Huskers open the spring back in Alabama at the Hal Williams Collegiate (Feb. 16-17), before traveling to The Johnnie-O in St. Simons Island, Ga. (March 9-10) and the All-American Intercollegiate in Houston (March 16-17). The Big Red head to Arizona for the Bell Bank “Pay It Forward” Collegiate (March 23-24), ahead of a trip to Missouri for the Tiger Intercollegiate (April 6-7). NU closes the regular season at the Tar Heel Intercollegiate in Chapel Hill, N.C. (April 11-12), before traveling to Oregon for the Big Ten Championship (May 1-3).

 

Team Total: 838 (-26), Island Resort, Aug. 31-Sept. 1
Team to Par: -26 (838), Island Resort, Aug. 31-Sept. 1
Team Finish: 6th, Island Resort, Aug. 31-Sept. 1
Individual Finish: T12th, Caden Mickelson, Island Resort, Aug. 31-Sept. 1
Individual Total: 207 (-9), Caden Mickelson, Island Resort, Aug. 31-Sept. 1
Individual to Par: -9 (207), Caden Mickelson, Island Resort, Aug. 31-Sept. 1
Individual Round: 67 (-5)
Caden Mickelson, 67, Island Resort, 3rd, Sept. 1
Caden Mickelson, 67, Island Resort, 2nd, Aug. 31
Jackson Benge, 67, Island Resort, 2nd, Aug. 31
Individual Round to Par: -5 (67)
Caden Mickelson, 67, Island Resort, 3rd, Sept. 1
Caden Mickelson, 67, Island Resort, 2nd, Aug. 31
Jackson Benge, 67, Island Resort, 2nd, Aug. 31
Eagles (1):
Brodie Cunningham, No. 18 (Par 5), 3rd, Island Resort, Sept. 1