Huskers Ready to Climb in 2023-24

The Nebraska men’s golf team plans to continue building momentum in Head Coach Judd Cornell’s second season leading the program in 2023-24.

Cornell, a former Husker golfer who also spent six seasons with the Big Red as an assistant before returning to guide the Nebraska program after three seasons as Creighton’s head coach, has a solid nucleus of returning golfers this season.

He hopes to see Nebraska’s more experienced golfers make significant strides on the course this season while also looking for greater impacts from young Huskers.

Will Marshall enters his fifth season at Nebraska as the Big Red’s most experienced golfer. The graduate student from Elburn, Ill., posted a 73.68 stroke average over 28 rounds for the Huskers as a senior in 2022-23. He has competed in 61 rounds for Nebraska through his first four seasons in Lincoln while producing a 74.57 career stroke average. 

Marshall was Nebraska’s top finisher at four of 11 events last season, including a tie for 12th at the Seahawk Intercollegiate (March 26-27) and a tie for 16th at the season-opening Badger Invitational (Sept. 11-13). He is also a three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection.

Marshall, who was one of three Huskers to be recognized as a Big Ten Golfer to Watch for 2023-24, was joined on that list by senior Gentry Scheve and junior Harry Crockett.

Scheve enters his fourth season at Nebraska after recording a 73.35 stroke over 14 rounds for Coach Judd Cornell’s team a year ago. The senior from Emporia, Kan., has competed in 26 rounds for the Huskers in his career, posting a 74.50 stroke average. Scheve came on strong late in the 2022-23 campaign for the Huskers, producing Nebraska’s best finishes at its final two regular-season tournaments. He closed the regular season with a fourth-place finish at the Fighting Illini Spring Collegiate (April 22-23) after tying for 12th at the Tiger Collegiate in Columbia, Mo. (April 10-11). He has also earned Academic All-Big Ten honors.

Crockett (Oxted, England) enters his second season as a Husker after transferring from Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College, where he was the 2021 NJCAA individual runner-up and a two-time first-team All-American for the two-time NJCAA Division I champions. As a sophomore at Nebraska in 2022-23, Crockett set the school single-season stroke average record (71.82) while playing in 11 rounds, including a third-place finish at the Purdue Fall Invitational.

Crockett was one of NU’s top four finishers at each of the first four events to open the season, but did not compete during the spring semester for the Big Red. His return could provide a significant boost in Nebraska’s hunt for postseason contention.

Reed Malleck also brings extensive college experience to the table for Nebraska’s lineup. The senior from York, Neb., ranked second among the Huskers with 22 rounds played a year ago while posting a 74.86 stroke average. He posted a season-best tie for 25th at the Tiger Collegiate while also leading the Huskers with a tie for 28th at the Desert Mountain Collegiate in Arizona (March 4-5). Malleck is also a standout in the classroom as a 2022 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar.

Fellow Nebraskan Grant Jabenis also looks to increase his contributions in his second season with the Huskers. The Omaha Westside grad took third at The Prestige in Indio, Calif. (Feb. 20-22) to match Nebraska’s top individual finish of the season. He competed in 20 rounds and posted a solid 74.50 stroke average. Jabenis joined Malleck, Scheve, Marshall and Davis Johnson in the Husker lineup at the 2023 Big Ten Championship to close the season.

Johnson, a sophomore from Chaska, Minn., competed in 11 rounds as a true freshman and posted a 76.00 stroke average, including a season-best tie for 36th at the Purdue Fall Invitational (Oct. 10-11).

Fellow freshmen Evan McDermott and Quinn Yost also saw lineup time for the Huskers a year ago and will be hungry for more in 2023-24.

McDermott, a sophomore from Spring Lake, Mich., led the Husker freshmen with 20 rounds and a 75.45 stroke average, including a tie for 13th at the Stampede at The Creek.

Yost, a sophomore from Farmington, N.M., added a 76.06 stroke average over 17 rounds, including a tie for 17th at the Stampede at The Creek.

The Big Red will also be bolstered by the addition of senior Evan Myers (Northbrook, Ill.), junior Hamish Murray (Sydney, Australia) and freshman Rhett Hughes (Edmond, Okla.). Myers posted a 73.13 stroke over eight rounds in 2022-23, including a fifth-place finish at the Badger Invitational and a tie for 13th at the Huntsville Toyota Bearkat Invite (April 3-4). Murray comes to Nebraska after being named the Cameron University Athlete of the Year in 2023. He set the career stroke average record (73.33) at NCAA Division II school in Lawton, Okla., and was named a second-team All-Lone Star Conference golfer.

Hughes was the runner-up at the Oklahoma Junior Amateur and took 10th at the Oklahoma Class 6A-1 State Championship.

The Huskers open the 2023-24 campaign at the first-ever Visit Knoxville Collegiate hosted by Tennessee (Sept. 8-10). They play their second of five fall tournaments at Cincinnati’s Bearcat Invitational (Sept. 18-19), before heading to Wisconsin for the Badger Invitational (Oct. 1-3).

Nebraska returns to the Purdue Fall Invitational (Oct. 9-10), before closing the fall campaign at the Little Rock Invitational (Oct. 15-16). 

The Huskers will use November, December and January to hone their games before returning to the course for the first stroke-play event of the spring in the Battle at Briar’s Creek hosted by the College of Charleston (Feb. 5-6). The Big Red then head to Florida for the first time to compete in The Gator (Feb. 17-18).

Nebraska travels to New Jersey for The Johnnie O hosted by Rutgers (March 10-12), before competing at the Tiger Collegiate in Missouri (April 8-9). The Huskers wrap up the regular season with the Hawkeye Invitational in Iowa City (April 13-14), before traveling to the Big Ten Championship at Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio (April 26-28).