Nebraska Spends Spring Break in Arizona

After a three-week break, the Nebraska men's golf team resumes its spring slate this weekend at the Steve Kerr Invitational in Buckeye, Ariz. The tournament will be contested at the Sundance Golf Club, and is hosted by the University of Denver.

Tournament action at par-72 layout gets underway with 36 holes on Friday, March 19 with a shotgun start beginning at 8:30 a.m. (CST). The final 18 holes will be played on Saturday again with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start.

The Huskers are coming off a fifth-place finish at the Emerald Coast Collegiate in Gulf Breeze, Fla., on Feb. 28-29. Nebraska finished just four shots out of second in the 15-team field.

Scouting the Field
The 14-team field at the Steve Kerr Invitational will be the best Nebraska has faced in three spring tournaments. Colorado State heads the field, as the Rams are 24th in the most recent GolfWeek rankings. Five other teams in the field are ranked in the top 100, including Indiana (45), Texas-El Paso (51), Xavier (56), Denver (59) and Utah (86). Nebraska is ranked 129th in this week's GolfWeek listing.

About the Huskers
The Steve Kerr Invitational caps a week-long Spring Break trip to Arizona for the Huskers. Coach Spangler's team left last weekend and has been practicing in the Phoenix area leading up to this weekend's tournament.

Six Huskers will compete in the Steve Kerr Invitational, led by senior J.J. Sullivan who will compete at the No. 1 spot this week. Sullivan leads the Huskers with a 75.0 stroke average and is coming off a tie for 12th place at the Emerald Coast Collegiate. Sullivan has been Nebraska's steadiest player throughout the 2003-04 campaign, carding a 77 or lower in all but three of his 22 rounds.

The remainder of the team lineup for the Steve Kerr invite will be Judd Cornell, Brady Schnell, Drew Reynolds and Chris Hartwig. Freshman Tom Bethel will compete as an individual at this weekend's tournament. Bethel is coming off a tie for 16th, while playing as an individual at the Emerald Coast Classic. Spangler said he is hopeful that Bethel's strong play will continue, which would make for better competition within the team this spring.

Emerald Coast Classic Recap
Nebraska finished three rounds of play with a 942 team total, good for fifth place at the Emerald Coast Collegiate in Gulf Breeze, Fla., Feb. 28-29. The field battled high winds throughout the tournament at the difficult Tiger Point Country Club layout.

The Huskers were just four strokes out of second place in the 15-team tournament. Host West Florida ran away with the team title with a final score of 908. Individually, J.J. Sullivan paced the Huskers with a 232 total, which placed him in a tie for 12th place. Judd Cornell continued his consistent play with a 15th-place showing, just a shot behind Sullivan. Tom Bethel finished in a tie for 16th while competing as an individual, and Brady Schnell was tied for 23rd place at 238.