NU Travels to Memphis for Intercollegiate Golf Classic

NU Travels to Memphis for Intercollegiate Golf Classic
The Huskers roll into the Memphis Intercollegiate Golf Classic with a confident boost from their break into the national rankings earlier this week.

Nebraska's third tournament of the fall will be held at the Colonial Country Club, a 72-par, 7,249-yard course.

The Huskers look to continue to improve on their 2005 season against a tournament field that includes Arkansas-Little Rock, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas Sate, South Alabama, Michigan, Marshall, Memphis, Mississippi State, Penn State, South Florida, Southern Miss, Tulane and Wisconsin.

After a qualifying round this week in practice, the lineup has changed for the third tournament in a row, a strong representation of the depth on the Husker roster this year.

First in the lineup is junior Brady Schnell, whose team-leading 72.67 stroke average has guided the Huskers to a win at their own Fairway Club Invitational and a 10th-place finish at the Inverness Intercollegiate Invitational. His low round of 66 at the Fairway Club Invitational also leads the team.

Following close behind is senior Judd Cornell, whose consistency has earned him a 73.17 stroke average. Junior Ryan Lenahan has earned the No. 3 spot in the lineup and has posted a 74.33 stroke average so far on the year.

At No. 4 in the lineup, junior Drew Reynolds brings a 76.17 stroke average. Finally, sophomore Mark Pillen finds himself on the lineup for the first time this fall, and brings a 77.33 stroke average through three rounds, which were as an individual in the Huskers' Fairway Club Invitational.

Head coach Bill Spangler expressed the need to do especially well against Iowa State and Kansas State at the tournament.

"There are a couple of Big 12 teams there that we want to do well against," Spangler said. "The field will be strong, with some teams we don’t see on a consistent basis, which is nice for us to be challenged in a different way."

Huskers place 10th at Inverness Intercollegiate
The Nebraska men’s golf team finished its second tournament of the fall with a 10th-place finish Tuesday at the University of Toledo's Inverness Intercollegiate Invitational at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio.

The Huskers’ final score of 910 (300-303-307) was good enough to beat out four NCAA qualifiers from last year, including Central Florida, Michigan State, Vanderbilt and TCU.

Florida won the tournament with a final team score of 880 (298-295-287).

The Huskers’ dominant win on their home course at the Fairway Club Invitational two weeks ago combined with their finish at the Inverness earmarks the squad’s improvement upon last year, something that head coach Bill Spangler sees as encouraging.

"This is a good finish for us against a great field, and we finished ahead of several teams that qualified for NCAA Regionals last year," Spangler said. "We are off to a good start to the season with a solid finish against a great field here and the victory last week at our own tournament in Lincoln."

Junior Brady Schnell was Nebraska’s top individual for the second time this fall with a final score of 224 (73-76-75), good enough for a tie for 19th in the tournament. Closing with a consistent 75 on the final round of the challenging Inverness course was enough to impress Spangler.

"This is the hardest and fairest golf course we have played," Spangler said. "A lot of All-Americans struggled on this course, so I am proud of how our guys played."

Senior Judd Cornell grabbed the second spot on the team with 226 (77-72-77), placing him in a tie for 26th. Cornell additionally ranked among the top individuals on par-3 scoring, averaging 2.89 strokes.

Junior Ryan Lenahan finished with a 228 (76-77-75) for a 36th-place tie, while scoring in the top six on par-5 holes, finishing at three-under par for the tournament and averaging 4.5 strokes.

Junior Drew Reynolds tied for 53rd place with a 232 (74-78-80), while freshman Trent Price closed out the Husker lineup with a tie for 67th with a 239 (78-79-82).

The top individual for the tournament was Florida’s Matt Every, who finished with a 213 (74-71-68). USC snagged spots Nos. 2 and 3, as Joshua Wooding shot a 215 (71-70-74) and Taylor Wood finished with 216 (69-73-74).

Southern California was close behind Florida for second place in the tournament with 883 strokes. The remaining top five teams in the tournament were Texas (888), Kent State (892) and Coastal Carolina (893).

Huskers Move into National Rankings
The Nebraska’s men’s golf team has earned its first top-50 national ranking since 1999, as the Huskers were ranked No. 43 in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin rankings released earlier this week.

Nebraska’s team rating through two tournaments is 71.98. The rating is a combination of a player’s record, stroke differential and schedule strength. The team has three wins against teams ranked in the top 50 and five wins against teams in the top 100.

The team began their fall season with a bang, winning the Fairway Club Invitational on the Firethorn Golf Course on Sept. 12-13. The Huskers beat out 12 other teams as they gathered a team score of 872 (291-292-289) in their first tournament.

NU’s top golfer for the Fairway Club Invitational was junior Brady Schnell. His one-under-par score of 212 (71-75-66) through 54 holes earned him a second-place individual finish for the tournament.

The Huskers then went on to face a top-ranked field in the Inverness Intercollegiate Invitational, where they placed 10th out of 15 teams. The team’s final score of 910 (300-303-307) was good enough to beat out four NCAA qualifiers from last year, including Central Florida, Michigan State, Vanderbilt and TCU.

Schnell was Nebraska’s top individual for the second time in a row. He tied for 19th with a final score of 224 (73-76-75).

Head coach Bill Spangler expressed how the ranking confirms the team's continued improvement and lends motivation for the rest of the season.

"For every player, and for me too, it’s just a validation of what we’re trying to accomplish here and just a sign of things to come," Spangler said. "Everyone’s just excited to get ranked high and just continue to play better the rest of the semester."

The top-ranked team in the nation is Tennessee with a 66.98 rating. Rounding out the top five and all within a one-point rating of each other are Florida (69.49), Alabama (69.60), Southern California (69.73) and Florida State (69.84).

NU is just one of five teams from the Big 12 represented in the top-50 in the national rankings. Texas stands at No. 7 (70.12), Missouri is No. 14 (70.66), Kansas State is No. 41 (71.88) and Kansas is No. 45 (71.99).

Texas Tech (72.20) and Baylor (72.21) remain in the hunt at No. 51 and No. 52, respectively.

Up Next
Following the Memphis Intercollegiate the team will head right back into action at the Xavier Invitational in Cincinnati, Ohio on Oct. 10-11.

Huskers Spring Schedule Announced
The Huskers' spring schedule was also announced, as they will play in six tournaments over two months, beginning Feb. 20-21 at the University of Texas-San Antonio Intercollegiate. The regularly-scheduled spring slate will end with the Big 12 Championships in late April at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla.