Rachel Hanigan

 Career Highlights

• NGCA Scholastic All-American (2009)
• First-Team Academic All-Big 12 (2009)
• One Career Top 20 Finish (1 in 2008-09)
• Tied for 38th at Big 12 Championships (2009)
• Seven-Time Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll
  (Fall 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009; Spring 2007, 2008, 2009)
• Three-Time Iowa Player of the Year (2004, 2005, 2006)
• All-Iowa Class 1A Selection (2004, 2005, 2006)

Best Finish: Tied for 18th (2008 McHaney/Morehead Invitational)
Career Stroke Average: 81.39

Junior (2009-10)
Rachel Hanigan was a regular contributor in Nebraska’s lineup in her third year in the Nebraska program. As a sophomore, Hanigan competed in 27 rounds for the Huskers, including a lineup spot at the Big 12 Championships.

In addition to her contributions on the course, Hanigan was one of Nebraska’s top performers in the classroom. She earned the first NGCA Scholastic All-America award of her career in 2009, after claiming first-team academic All-Big 12 accolades.

Following the fall campaign of her junior season, Hanigan elected to leave the Nebraska program. She finished her junior year with an 81.17 stroke average over six fall rounds.

She opened her junior campaign with a solid showing at the 2009 Chip-N Club Invitational. She tied for 27th with a career-best three-round total of 229 (77-77-75) to help Nebraska to a second-place team finish in the 14-team field. Hanigan was NU's No. 5 qualifier in the lineup for the Chip-N Club and earned a trip to the Ron Moore Intercollegiate as an individual with her performance in the tournament. Although Hanigan posted a career-best score at Wilderness Ridge, five of her Husker teammates produced top-15 showings.

Hanigan competed as an individual at the Ron Moore Intercollegiate in Highlands Ranch, Colo., Sept. 21-23, settling for 70th (258).

Sophomore (2008-09)
In her third season as a Husker, Hanigan earned significant playing time in the Nebraska lineup, including a spot at the 2009 Big 12 Championships. 

The native of Dunlap, Iowa, replaced an injured Mary Kate Bird in the Husker lineup at the Big 12 Championships and produced NU's No. 3 finish at the conference tournament by tying for 38th (241). In the second round, Hanigan fired a three-over-par 76 on the par 73 layout of the Rawls Course in Lubbock, Texas, for Nebraska's second-best individual score of the round.

She closed her sophomore season with an 80.63 stroke average after competing in all 15 rounds during the fall and 12 more rounds during the spring campaign.

Hanigan earned a spot in the Nebraska lineup in four of five fall events, stepping outside of the lineup only for the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational, where she tied for 28th individually with a 238 (81-80-77).

She opened the season by tying for 30th with a 231 (82-75-74) to help the Huskers to the team crown at Nebraska's Chip-N Club Invitational. Her final-round 74 at Wilderness Ridge was a career best. She returned to the lineup for the McHaney/Morehead Invitational in Lubbock, Texas, where she posted the first top-20 finish of her career by tying for 18th at 233 (78-77-78).

She secured a lineup spot for the Lady Pirate Intercollegiate, where she settled for a tie for 67th (77-80-84), before closing the fall in a tie for 51st at 247 (81-86-80) at The Challenge at Wolfdancer in Lost Pines, Texas.

Hanigan finished 79th (252) at the Aztec Spring Invitational before tying for 148th (248) at the 43-team Edwin Watts/Kiawah Island Classic. She added a tie for 94th (246) at the Mountain View Collegiate, March 28-29, before concluding her season with a tie for 38th at the Big 12 Championships.

In addition to her success on the course, Hanigan earned NGCA Scholastic All-America honors and was a first-team academic All-Big 12 selection for the first time in 2009.

Redshirt Freshman (2007-08)
Hanigan competed in five rounds as a redshirt freshman for the Huskers in 2007-08. She played in two rounds in the NU lineup at the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Classic, finishing in a tie for 90th (186) in brutal playing conditions. She added a tie for 58th (243) as an individual at the Chip-N Club Invite to open the season.

Redshirt (2006-07)
Hanigan redshirted in her first season at Nebraska. She earned a pair of spots on the Big 12 Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll.

High School/Amateur
In the summer of 2007, Hanigan qualified for the USGA Public Links Championships by winning the qualifier with a 69 at Otter Creek Golf Club in Ankeny, Iowa.

Hanigan earned Iowa Class 1A State Player-of-the-Year honors on three occasions on her way to all-state honors at Boyer Valley High School. She led Coach Larry Neilsen’s Bulldogs to four straight state tournament appearances, including the Class 1A title in 2004. She also helped the Bulldogs capture four Boyer Valley Conference titles.

Hanigan was an outstanding all-around athlete. She was a first-team all-conference basketball player, averaging 11.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game as a senior, while earning four varsity letters. She was a second-team all-conference volleyball player and helped Boyer Valley to the 2004 state tournament. In the classroom, Hanigan was a National Honor Society and "A" Honor Roll selection. She also earned academic all-state honors as a basketball player.

Personal
The daughter of John and Katie Hanigan, Rachel was born in Denison, Iowa, on Feb. 29, 1988. She has one sister, Sarah. A biological systems engineering major with a 3.567 GPA, Rachel earned NGCA Scholastic All-America honors and was a first-team academic All-Big 12 selection in 2009. She is a seven-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

Hanigan's Career Statistics

 

Year

Rounds

Strokes

Avg.

Low 18

Low 54

2007-08

5

429

85.80

78

243

2008-09

27

2,177

80.63

74

231

2009-10

6

487

81.17

75

229

Totals

38

3,093

81.39

74

229