Huskers Hope to Keep Growing in California

The Nebraska women’s golf team hopes to continue its strong play when the Huskers travel to the MSU SoCal Spring Invitational in Camarillo, Calif., March 8-10.

The three-day, 54-hole event hosted by Morehead State on the 5,900-yard, par-71 layout of the Sterling Hills Golf Club gets underway with a 10 a.m. (CT) shotgun start each day, beginning Sunday, March 8 and continuing through Tuesday, March 10.

Nebraska is in a 15-team field that includes Creighton, CS Bakersfield, CS Northridge, Eastern Washington, Lehigh, Lindenwood, Memphis, Murray State, North Dakota State, Notre Dame, Providence, South Dakota, Western Michigan and the hosts from Morehead State.

Ailis Tribolet will play out of the top spot in the Husker lineup after posting a career-best tie for sixth with a career-best 207 (-9) to help lead Nebraska to a fourth-place finish at the Westbrook Spring Invitational in Peoria, Ariz. (Feb. 22-23). It followed a seventh-place individual finish with a 219 (+3) to lead Nebraska to a runner-up showing at the Texas Golf Throwdown (Feb. 16-17). The freshman from Chandler, Ariz., earned her third straight top-25 finish of the spring in her home state, including a tie for 24th with a 217 (+1) at the UCF Challenge in Orlando (Jan. 25-27).

Kaleigh Babineaux earned the No. 2 position in the lineup after notching her fifth consecutive top-25 finish of the season by matching Tribolet stroke for stroke to tie for sixth in Arizona with a career-best 207 (-9). Babineaux, a true freshman from Austin, Texas, fired a career-best 67 (-5) in the final round to help the Huskers set a school record with a 272 (-16) at Westbrook. Babineaux leads the Huskers with a 72.59 stroke average over 17 rounds on the season.

Hannah Kono, a junior from Enkoping, Sweden, added a tie for 16th in Arizona with a career-best 210 (-6). Kono, who is the only Husker to play in all 20 team rounds this season, owns three top-25 finishes on the year while ranking second on the team with a 72.63 stroke average. 

Redshirt juniors Symran Shah (Carrollton, Texas) and Lauren Thiele (Wahoo, Neb.) round out Nebraska’s lineup, while sophomore Olivia Lovegrove (Lincoln, Neb.) will compete as an individual for the second straight tournament.

MSU SoCal Spring Invitational
Camarillo, Calif. (Host: Morehead State)
Sterling Hills Golf Club (Par 71, 5,900 Yards)

Schedule
Sunday, March 8 (Round 1) - Noon (CT) - Tee Times
Monday, March 9 (Round 2) - Noon (CT) - Tee Times
Tuesday, March 10 (Round 3) - 9:30 a.m. (CT) - Tee Times
Live Scoring: Scoreboard.clippd.com

Participating Teams (15) 
Creighton, CS Bakersfield, CS Northridge, Eastern Washington, Lehigh, Lindenwood, 
Memphis, Morehead State, Murray State, Nebraska, North Dakota State, Notre Dame, 
Providence, South Dakota, Western Michigan

Nebraska Lineup (5-count-4)
1. Ailis Tribolet, Fr., Chandler, Arizona
2. Kaleigh Babineaux, Fr., Austin, Texas
3. Hannah Kono, Jr., Enkoping, Sweden
4. Symran Shah, RJr., Carrollton, Texas
5. Lauren Thiele, RJr., Wahoo, Nebraska
IND - Olivia Lovegrove, So., Lincoln, 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 are 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.

Tribolet, Kono, Babineaux Lead Huskers to Runner-Up Finish in Texas
Ailis Tribolet and Hannah Kono both earned top-10 individual finishes to lead Nebraska to its best finish of the season with a runner-up showing at the 15-team Texas Golf Throwdown.

The Huskers, who finished with a three-round total of 901 (+37) on the 6,311-yard, par-72 layout of The Woodlands Country Club, took second behind Iowa State. The Cyclones closed the tournament at 862 (-2), while fellow Big 12 school Cincinnati took third at 903 (+39). Texas State (910) and Middle Tennessee (913) rounded out the top five.

Tribolet captured seventh individually with a 54-hole total of 219 (+3), including a second-round 71 (-1). The freshman opened with a 75 (+3) and closed with a 73 (+1).

Kono finished in a tie for eighth just two strokes back of Tribolet. Kono’s three-round total of 221 included an opening-round 71 (-1).

Kaleigh Babineaux gave Nebraska a third top-25 finisher, closing at 227 (+11) in a tie for 21st. The freshman carded her best round of the tournament with a second-round 73 (+1).

Husker All-American Kate Smith Competed 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, 2024.

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 in 2025.

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 earned nearly $116,000 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. She opened October with a tie for 42nd at the Lotte Championship at Hoakalei Country Club (Oct. 1-4), before closing in a tie for 65th at The ANNIKA (Nov. 10-13). Overall, she made eight cuts in 17 events.

The native of Detroit Lakes, Minn., made history at Nebraska. The two-time first-team All-Big Ten choice 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 Making 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 first-year Nebraska golfer, after finishing sixth at the 2024 Horizon League Championship.

Through seven tournaments in her second season at Nebraska, Kono owns a 72.63 stroke average including a pair of eighth-place finishes (Ptarmigan Ram, Texas Golf Throwdown).

Kono fired a career-best 210 (-6) to tie for 16th at the 2026 Westbrook Spring Invitational. Last season, Kono tied for 21st with a then-career-best 213 (-3) at Westbrook.

She closed with a career-best 68 (-4) this season in Arizona to help the Huskers close with the best team round in school history with a 272 (-16).

Kono ended the fall of 2024 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.

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

Thiele Named 2025 Nebraska Women’s Amateur of the Year
Lauren Thiele was named the Nebraska Women’s Amateur Golfer of the Year presented by SWAG (Nov. 13, 2025).

Thiele claimed the honor on the strength of a victory at the 102nd Nebraska Women’s Match Play at Hillcrest Country Club in Lincoln (July 31). She defeated Husker teammate Brooke Bream 1 up in the final to capture the title.

Thiele, 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. Hannah was also the Nebraska Women’s Amateur Golfer of the Year in 2016.

Lauren added an eighth-place finish at the Nebraska Women’s Amateur in Beatrice in June.

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
A five-player sophomore class should make qualifying for each tournament extraordinarily competitive for Nebraska this season.

Four-time Iowa high school player of the year Eden Lohrbach was a regular in Nebraska’s lineup as a true freshman in 2024-25, finishing with a 75.85 stroke average over 27 rounds. She was also NU’s top finisher at the Big Ten Championship.

Lincoln Christian High School graduate and 2022 Nebraska state champion Olivia Lovegrove came on strong late in the season and finished with a 75.64 stroke average over 11 rounds. She contributed a pair of rounds for the Big Red at the Big Ten Championship.

Another 2025 true freshman, Danica Lundgren posted a solid 75.70 stroke average over 23 rounds. Lundgren’s first collegiate season included a Husker season-best 207 (-9) at the PDI Intercollegiate hosted by UCF early in the spring.

Third-year Husker Mackenzie Bream adds a fourth returning sophomore to Nebraska’s class, while Illinois State transfer Jessica Jolly hopes to make an instant impact on the Husker lineup.

Jolly earned All-Missouri Valley Conference honors in her first college season under Coach Breanne Hall at ISU, after tying for 17th individually at the MVC Championship. Jolly went on to tie for 62nd individually at the NCAA Columbus Regional before making the decision to follow Hall to Nebraska.

Huskers Participate in Folds of Honor
Nebraska women’s golf is a proud participant in the Folds of Honor program, which recognizes fallen or disabled American service members and first responders by carrying a bag tag emblazoned with the number of Folds of Honor recipients who have attended Nebraska.

To donate to the Folds of Honor program at Nebraska, visit https://foh.org/nebraskawomensgolf.