Huskers Prepare for NCAA Regional

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<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Lincoln ? The Nebraska men’s golf team has been hard at work at multiple courses in and around Lincoln as they prepare for their first NCAA Regional appearance since 1999.

 

Nebraska departed Tuesday for the Central Regional, which will be hosted by ClevelandStateUniversity at the Sand Ridge Golf Club Chardon, Ohio on Thursday through Saturday.

Named the 52nd best golf course in America by Golf Digest in 2005, the Tom Fazio-designed Sand Ridge will play as a 7,173-yard, par-71 (35-36), with the sixth hole being converted from a par 5 to a 485-yard par 4.

Head Coach Bill Spangler remains excited about the chance to represent Nebraska at a regional-level tournament and earn a spot at nationals.

 

“This team is just excited for the opportunity to play, and have the chance to qualify and continue on to nationals,” Spangler said. “With the way the team has been playing this season, we don’t just want to qualify for a spot at nationals, we expect to, and that gives us a lot of momentum heading into Cleveland.”

 

Junior Brady Schnell will lead the team into NCAA Regional play after a successful spring season during which he posted four top-10 spots in five tournaments as well as a 19th-place finish at the Big 12 Tournament.

 

Schnell, who led the team at different points throughout his sophomore year, traded spots with fellow junior Drew Reynolds throughout the fall season as the team anchor.

 

Schnell's fall performance included two top-10 finishes and three top-20 finishes in six tournaments, as he wrapped up the first half of the season with a 72.94 stroke average through 18 rounds.

 

Schnell looks to continue his hot streak as the team’s stroke average leader with a 72.22 mark on the season through 36 rounds. Schnell is also coming off of a school, career and season-record low round of 64, which he shot in the first round of the Ron Moore Invitational on March 20-21 in Goodyear, Ariz.

 

Schnell's first round of 64 powered the team to a season-low team final score of 837 (279-277-281) and a second-place finish, the lowest placement since the team had captured the title at their own Fairway Club Invitational on Sept. 12-13.

 

Schnell finished with a final score of 203 (64-70-69), beating his previous career-low round by five strokes, when he finished with a 208 (73-65-70) at the Pioneer Golf Classic in 2005. Schnell’s low round beat his own previous record of 65, which he shot at the 2005 Pioneer Golf Classic and finished seven under par.

 

Two additional former Huskers boast rounds of 65, including Jamie Rogers at the 1998 NCAA Central Regional as well as the 1998 Ram Collegiate and Knox Jones.

 

Schnell recognizes his role as team leader and hopes to model the team’s competitive showing with a great personal performance.

  

“I’ll just try to lead by example,” Schnell said. “It will be a competitive field, and we’re just going to go in there and compete to the best of our ability.”

 

Junior Drew Reynolds also snagged a career low at the Ron Moore Invitational with a round of 66, as his previous career low was a 68, shot at the Branson Creek Invitational in 2005.

 

Reynolds is tied for the second spot on the lineup with senior Judd Cornell as they both boast a 73.19 stroke average through 36 rounds.

 

Reynolds cruised through the fall season with three top-20 performances and two more top-25 finishes in six tournaments. Reynolds came flying out of the gates in the spring as well, claiming a third-place finish at the UTSA Intercollegiate with a final score of 211 (73-69-69) and going on to match that finish with a tie for third at the Ron Moore Invitational with a season-low score of 204 (70-68-66).

 

Reynolds spring has included two top-five performances and two more top-30 performances. With a longer break between tournaments than the team usually has, Reynolds pointed out the benefits that come with not having played since the Big 12 Championship on April 24-25.

 

“We’ve have a longer break than normal in between tournaments, and some of the guys have even gotten to go home and work with their main teachers,” Reynolds said. “It’s been a little bit different because we?ve had more time, so we’ve gotten to play a couple of different golf courses, just get more of a broad preparation than we’re usually dealing with.”

 

For Cornell, the squad’s only senior, the tournament represents his final run at the NCAA Central Regional as well as his final chance to qualify to play in the NCAA Championships.

 

“It will be a lot of fun, there’s a good field and good competition, and that’s what this team wants to in and compete against,” Cornell said. “With this lineup, we really have the potential to be successful, and that’s why we have a lot of confidence going into this Regional.”

 

Cornell began the fall season with a bang and posted a tie for third at the team’s own Fairway Club Invitational. Cornell went on to post two more top-30 finishes and one more top-20 finish.

 

Cornell has been more consistent this spring, posting a fourth-place finish at the Branson Creek Invitational midway through the spring season as well as three more top-25 finishes and one additional top-20 finish throughout the spring.

 

Cornell additionally posted his season-low round of 68 in both the fall and the spring as he shot the low round at both the Xavier Invitational in the fall and the Wyoming Cowboy Classic in the spring.

 

Junior transfer Ty Capps adjusted to the Division I level in minimal time, snagging his first collegiate victory in a tournament to lead Nebraska to their second tournament win of the year at the Branson Creek Invitational on April 3-4. The Huskers finished with a final team score of 874 (304-282-288) at the par-71, 6,958 yd. Branson Creek Golf Course in Hollister, Mo.

 

Capps, who holds the fourth spot in the Husker lineup with a 74.46 stroke average through 24 rounds, looks forward to the Huskers’ Regional run as he grows more personally confident in his ability in addition to his teammates.

 

“This year has been a lot more busy, but I have just grown a lot more confident from the fall to the spring,” Capps said. “I feel more confident in myself and I think everybody else feels more confident in me too, and that enables my teammates to just go out there on the course and play, and not worry about how I am going to perform.”

 

Capps began to make his mark at Nebraska almost immediately, shooting a then-career low round of 69 at the Sam Hall Invitational on Oct. 31 ? Nov. 1. Capps continued to improve throughout the season, however, snagging a new career low of 67 at the Wyoming Cowboy Classic, where he finished with a season-low total of 211 (72-67-72) and finished in a tie for 11th.

 

Junior Ryan Lenahan will round out Nebraska’s lineup at the tournament, as he earned the final spot on the final hole in a 54-hole qualifier round last week with freshman Trent Price.

 

“It came down to basically the last hole, and it was a 54-hole qualifier, so it was really close,” Lenahan. “Getting that final spot was just really exciting for me. At the beginning of the year, it was one of our goals as a team to get to the Regional. We had a good year all along and it’s good to finally get there, especially for (senior Judd) Cornell, because it’s his last year.”

 

Lenahan is just behind Capps with a 74.67 stroke average through 27 rounds. Lenahan’s spring has included two top-50 finishes, while his fall performance included one top-10 finish and two more top-30 finishes. Lenahan shot his season-low round of 69 at the Fairway Club Invitational, where he competed as an individual and finished in a tie for sixth.

Spangler Leads Squad to Best Spring Since 1998-99 Season

Head Coach Bill Spangler's sixth year has proven to be the breakthrough year as he has led the squad to the best start by a men's golf team since the 1998-99 season.

 

The Huskers were already on a roll with a fourth, third and second place finish to start the spring half of the season, as they headed into friendly and familiar territory at the Branson Creek course, a tournament which they won in the spring of 2005.

 

The team clinched the victory again in 2006, fighting through a first round that left them 16 strokes out of first place behind tournament host MissouriState, before posting a total of four individual rounds under par in the final two rounds to win the tournament by three strokes.

 

Nebraska also finished with three top-five spots and four top-20 spots individually in the tournament.

 

The Huskers went on to snag a sixth-place finish at the 10th Annual Big 12 Championships at the Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla., posting two top-20 individual finishes and three top-25 finishes.

 

The Huskers finished with a total team score of 887 (291-296-300) to match their second best finish since joining the Big 12 in 1997, while also helping to continue to close in on Spangler’s best finish in his six-year tenure at Nebraska.

 

Spangler remains excited at the possibilities the team has created for itself by remaining confident and continuing to improve throughout the season.

 

“Everyone’s confident in our ability to compete,” Spangler said. “We’ve had a lot of time to just get mentally focused and refreshed, and just get prepared to compete in a great tournament on a great course. It’s been a good opportunity to get mentally prepared to play the way we know we can and get to the Regional and compete.”