Kayla Knopik

Career Highlights

• One Career Top-10 Finish (1 in 2011-12)
• Seven Career Top-25 Finishes (5 in 2011-12)
• 17th at Big Ten Championships (2012)
• Tied for 39th at Big 12 Championships (2010)
• Tied for 46th at Big 12 Championships (2011)
• First-Team Academic All-Big 12 (2011)
• Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll (Spring 2012)
• Five-Time Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll
  (Fall 2008, 2009, 2010; Spring 2008, 2010)
• Nebraska Women's Match Play Champion (2009)
• Second at Nebraska Western Stroke Play (2008)
• Second at Nebraska Girls Match Play (2006)
• Fifth at Nebraska State Amateur Stroke Play (2008)
• Fifth at Nebraska Eastern Stroke Play (2008)
• Fifth at Nebraska Stroke Play (2006)
• Fifth at Nebraska Class A High School State Tournament (2006)

Best Finish: T6th (2011 Chip-N Club Invitational)
Career Stroke Average: 77.83

Senior (2011-12)
Kayla Knopik closed a solid Nebraska career by finishing 17th at the 2012 Big Ten Tournament. Knopik ended her senior season with a career-best 76.88 stroke average over 32 rounds. She competed in 71 consecutive rounds in Nebraska's top five to close her career, while playing in three conference tournaments.

The Papillion native finished with Nebraska's No. 3 stroke average on the season, as she continued to shave strokes off her game every year as a Husker.

As a senior, Knopik produced five top-25 individual finishes, including a career-best tie for sixth (75-77-75-227) at Nebraska's season-opening Chip-N Club Invitational at the Country Club of Lincoln, Sept. 12-13. 

Her 227 was a career best until she erupted for a career-best 219 at the 2011 Alamo Invitational, Oct. 30-Nov. 1. Knopik's performance in San Antonio included a career-best 69 in the second round, sandwiched between a pair of 75's. She tied for 13th at the Alamo Invite, before tying for 13th again with a 230 (78-75-77) in the BYU at Entrada Classic in St. George, Utah, March 19-20.

Following a tie for 48th (80-80-81-241) at the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational in Sammamish, Wash., Oct. 3-5, Knopik tied for 23rd (74-75-80-229) at the Lady Northern, Oct. 10-11, in French Lick, Ind. She opened the Hoosier Fall Invitational in Carmel, Ind., Oct. 17-18, with a pair of 77's before being disqualified after the final round for signing an incorrect scorecard. She was in line for another top-25 finish in Indiana before the disqualification.

Knopik rebounded with a career effort at the Alamo Invite to close the fall, then opened the spring by tying for 59th (79-80-80-239) at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic, Feb. 12-14. She added a tie for 49th (76-77-75-228) at the Westbrook Spring Invitational in Peoria, Ariz., Feb. 26-27.

Knopik added a tie for 32nd (74-74-75-223) at the Mountain View Collegiate in Tucson, Ariz., March 23-24. Her 223 marked the second-best tournament score of her career. She added a 46th-place finish (81-81-81-243) at the Lady Buckeye Spring Invitational, April 21-22, before rebounding with her 17th-place performance at the Big Ten Tournament, April 27-29. She fired a 227 (75-75-77) at the Donald C. Ross Course in French Lick, Ind., to close her Husker career.

A solid performer in the classroom, Knopik earned her bachelor's degree in finance from Nebraska in May of 2012.

Junior (2010-11)
Knopik finished fourth among the Huskers with a 77.63 stroke average. She joined fellow junior Madeleine Sheils and freshman Steffi Neisen in competing in all 32 rounds in the Husker lineup in 2010-11.

She ended the 2010-11 season with a tie for 46th (76-80-76-232) at the Big 12 Championships in Columbia, Mo., April 22-24.

Knopik produced a season-best one-under-par 71 in the final round of the Mountain View Collegiate in Tucson, Ariz., on March 26. Despite her season-best score, she settled for a tie for 69th (82-79-71-232) at Mountain View. She added a tie for 32nd (79-75-80-234) at the Baylor Spring Invitational, April 11-12.

Knopik tied for 30th (83-79-73-235) at the 82-player BYU Entrada Classic in St. George, Utah, March 21-22. She finished in a tie for 40th at UNLV with a season-best three-round score of 227 (77-78-72). She opened the spring by tying for 59th (76-83-75-234) at the 33-team Kiawah Island Intercollegiate.

Knopik produced rounds of 79 or better in 13 of her 14 fall rounds, including six rounds of 77 and four rounds of 78. She fired a 74 in the third round of the Johnie Imes Invitational in Columbia, Mo., on her way to a 229. She finished in a tie for 36th in Columbia, which came just a week after tying for 23rd (27-78-77-233) at the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational. It was her second career top-25 finish.

Knopik opened the season with back-to-back rounds of 79 at the rain-shortened Chip-N Club Invitational at Wilderness Ridge in Lincoln. She added a tie for 55th (77-78-84-239) at the Dale McNamara Invitational in Owasso, Okla., before closing the fall season in a tie for 43rd (77-77-77-231) at the Alamo Invitational.

Knopik earned first-team academic All-Big 12 accolades for the first time in her career in 2011, and claimed her fifth spot on the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll in the fall of 2010.

Sophomore (2009-10)
Knopik played a major role in Nebraska's lineup during the spring portion of the 2009-10 campaign, earning a spot in NU's top five in each of the Huskers' final three spring events, including the 2010 Big 12 Championships. She tied for 39th (75-80-80-235) at the Big 12 Tournament.

For the season, Knopik produced a 78.22 stroke average over 18 rounds, including a season-best tie for 14th with a season-best 230 (77-75-78) at the BYU at Entrada Classic in St. George, Utah, March 22-23.

Knopik's effort in Utah followed a tie for 47th (80-79-76-235) at Nebraska's Northern Migration in Florence, Ariz., March 15-17.

Knopik made her first career appearance in NU's lineup at the UCF Challenge to open the spring, where she tied for 67th (78-83-80-241). She added a 233 (78-74-81) to finish 51st at the SunTrust Gator Invitational in Gainesville, Fla., April 10-11, before competing at the Big 12 Championships.

She competed as an individual at NU's season-opening Chip-N Club Invitational at Wilderness Ridge, and produced a 234 (84-76-74) to finish in a tie for 41st individually in an 83-player field.

Redshirt Freshman (2008-09)
After redshirting in 2007-08, Knopik got her first taste of collegiate action during the 2008 fall campaign for the Huskers. She made a splash in her first collegiate round with a career-best 73 in the opening round of the Chip-N Club Invitational at Wilderness Ridge.

Knopik struggled in the second round with an 84, but bounced back with a solid round of 76 to close her first tournament in a tie for 37th at 233. She traveled to the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational the following week and settled for an 88th-place finish (264), closing the fall with an 82.83 stroke average.

Freshman (2007-08)
Knopik redshirted in her first season at NU in 2007-08.

High School/Amateur
Knopik captured the 2009 Nebraska Women's Match Play title by defeating teammate JC Stevenson in the final at the Kearney Country Club. Knopik advanced to the final with wins over 17-time state match play champion Susan Marchese in the semifinals and former Husker All-Big Eight performer Jane (Deeter) Pohlmann in the quarterfinals. Knopik added an eighth-place finish at the Nebraska State Stroke Play in Lincoln. In the summer of 2008, Knopik took second at the Nebraska Women's Western Stroke Play, while adding fifth-place finishes at the state amateur and Eastern Stroke Play tournaments. The Papillion-LaVista product finished second to Husker teammate JC Stevenson at the 2006 Nebraska Girls Match Play. Knopik finished fifth at the 2006 Nebraska State Stroke Play and the 2006 Nebraska High School Class A State Tournament.

Knopik was also named an NJCA Junior All-Star and was an all-state golfer in 2004, 2005 and 2006. She was the Metro Conference champion in 2004, and earned individual district titles in 2003, 2005 and 2006.

In addition to her success on the golf course, Knopik earned honorable-mention all-state honors as a guard on the Papillion-LaVista basketball team. She also captured All-Metro honors on the tennis court.

Personal
The daughter of Doug and Dana Knopik, Kayla was born in Albuquerque, N.M., on May 10, 1989. Kayla has one sister, Brandee Bruening. Kayla majored in finance at Nebraska and claimed her bachelor's degree in May of 2012. She earned first-team academic All-Big 12 honors in 2011. A Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll selection in the spring of 2012, Knopik was also a five-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll.

Knopik's Career Statistics

 

Year

Rounds

Strokes

Avg.

Low 18

Low 54

2007-08

Redshirt

 

 

 

 

2008-09

6

497

82.83

73

233

2009-10

18

1,408

78.22

74

230

2010-11

32

2,484

77.63

71

227

2011-12 32 2,460 76.88 69 219

Totals

88

6,849

77.83

69

219