The Nebraska women’s golf team tees off on its 2023 fall season when the Huskers travel to Corinth, Texas for the Sam Golden Invitational.
The 12-team tournament gets underway on Monday, Sept. 11, with 36 holes beginning with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. (CT) at the Oakmont Country Club. The three-round tournament concludes with the final 18 holes on Tuesday, Sept. 12 with another shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. (CT).
The 12 teams, which include BYU, Charlotte, Houston, Kennesaw State, Missouri, Texas Tech, TCU, Tulane, Tulsa, UTSA and the hosts from North Texas, will face a 6,413-yard, par-72 layout at the Oakmont Country Club.
Live scoring for the five-count-four tournament will be available through Golfstat.com.
Sam Golden Invitational
Corinth, Texas (Host: North Texas)
Oakmont CC (Par 72/6,413 Yards)
Schedule (Shotgun Starts)
Monday, Sept. 11 (Rounds 1-2) - 8:30 a.m. (CT)
Tuesday, Sept. 12 (Round 3) - 8:30 a.m. (CT)
Live Scoring - Golfstat.com
Participating Teams (12)
BYU, Charlotte, Houston, Kennesaw State, Missouri, Nebraska, North Texas, Texas Tech, TCU, Tulane, Tulsa, UTSA
Nebraska Lineup
1. Michaela Vavrova
2. Arden Louchheim
3. Miu Takahashi
4. Lena Hassert
5. Kelli Ann Strand
IND - Lindsey Thiele
Kelli Ann Strand returns to lead Nebraska’s lineup. The sophomore from Challis, Idaho earned All-Big Ten honors a year ago after posting a school-record 72.05 stroke average. Strand finished among the top 115 golfers in the national rankings. She posted nine top-25 finishes as a freshman, including six top-10 showings. Strand opened her career with an individual title at Tulane’s Green Wave Classic (Sept. 12-13, 2022).
Junior Miu Takahashi (Nasu-machi, Japan) added a record-setting season of her own for the Huskers in 2022-23. Takahashi set Nebraska’s sophomore stroke average record (73.49), while producing six top-25 finishes, including four top-10 showings a year ago. Takahashi and Strand both qualified for the U.S. Women’s Amateur in August, after Takahashi was crowned the Nebraska Women’s Amateur Champion.
Senior Michaela Vavrova (Bojnice, Slovakia) also returns as a leader in the Husker lineup. The 2022 Slovakian Player of the Year was Nebraska’s top performer in pre-tournament qualifying and will occupy the No. 1 spot in the Husker lineup. Vavrova is a three-time Big Ten Preseason Women’s Golfer to Watch and was joined on that list by Strand and Takahashi this season. Vavrova helped Nebraska to NCAA Regional appearances in both 2021 and 2023.
Arden Louchheim plans to make an immediate impact on the Nebraska lineup. The three-time Utah Class 2A state champion at Rowland Hall High School earned the No. 2 spot in pre-tournament qualifying for the Sam Golden Invitational. Louchheim was also the 2023 Utah Girls Amateur Champion.
Lena Hassert rounds out Nebraska’s five-player lineup in Texas. The junior from Kreuzau, Germany competed in six rounds as an individual last season, after making her first career lineup appearance in NU’s top five as a true freshman at the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational (Sept. 20-21, 2021).
Senior Lindsey Thiele will join the Huskers as an individual outside the lineup at North Texas. The fourth-year golfer from Wahoo, Neb., has played in more than 70 career collegiate rounds and set a career-best with a 74.88 stroke average last season.
Huskers Begin Pursuit of Third NCAA Regional Bid in Four Years
Nebraska earned its second NCAA Regional appearance in a three-year span when the Huskers were selected to compete at the 2023 NCAA Raleigh Regional. It was Nebraska’s 13th all-time NCAA Regional berth dating back to the 1994 NCAA West Regional.
The Huskers, who finished ninth at the 12-team NCAA Raleigh Regional, also competed at the 2021 NCAA Columbus Regional, tying for 15th in an 18-team field in Ohio.
The Huskers made regional appearances in 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2021.
Nebraska’s highest regional finish came with a fifth-place finish in a 21-team field at the 2003 NCAA Central Regional at Firethorn Golf Club in Lincoln (May 8-10).
The Huskers advanced to NCAA Championship appearances in 2000 (19th), 2003 (22nd) and 2006 (20th).
Sutherland Leads Huskers
In her second season as Nebraska’s head coach,
Jeanne Sutherland will pursue her 20th NCAA Regional appearance in 2024.
Sutherland, who spent one season as Nebraska’s associate head coach (2021-22), was named head coach on May 5, 2022. She came to Nebraska after spending 10 seasons (2011-21) as the head coach at SMU. She previously spent 15 seasons as the head coach at Texas A&M (1992-2007).
She has coached three individual All-Americans, five individual conference champions and three conference players of the year.
In 2018, Sutherland was named the inaugural winner of the WGCA Kim Evans Award. She also earned the WGCA Founders Award in 2017. A four-time conference coach of the year at Texas A&M (3 Big 12, 1 Southwest Conference), Sutherland was also a two-time NCAA Regional Coach of the Year (1997, 2007). She led 13 Texas A&M teams to NCAA Regional play, including four NCAA Championship appearances in 1997 (17th), 2004 (24th), 2005 (22nd) and 2006 (19th).
Sutherland coached SMU to five straight NCAA bids (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017).
Strand Earns All-Big Ten Honors
Kelli Ann Strand captured All-Big Ten honors as a true freshman in 2022-23.
Strand was one of eight second-team All-Big Ten choices for 2023, while the conference also announced eight first-team honorees.
She capped one of the best seasons in school history by tying for 30th at the NCAA Raleigh Regional, after tying for 20th at her first Big Ten Championship.
As a freshman, Strand set a school record with a 72.05 stroke average on her way to final top 115 national rankings by both Golfweek and GolfStat.
She notched nine top-25 individual finishes, including six top-10 showings, while claiming an individual title in her collegiate debut at the Green Wave Classic in New Orleans (Sept. 12-13, 2022). Strand tied the school record with a 54-hole score of 202 (-14) at Tulane. She also set the Husker freshman record with a second-round 65 (-7) at the Bayou Oaks South Course.
Strand fired a 29 (-7) over the back nine in the second round before opening the third round with a 31 (-5) on the front nine, carding a 60 (-12) over those consecutive 18 holes splitting two rounds. The NCAA record for best round of women’s golf is 61. Strand also was named the Big Ten Golfer of the Week (Sept. 15).
Strand, who earned her second straight Idaho Golf Association Women’s Player of the Year award in December of 2022, won the Idaho Women’s Match Play title. She added a runner-up finish at the Idaho Women’s Amateur.
During the summer of 2023, Strand qualified for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship. She also advanced to the round of 32 in match play at the Women’s Western Amateur.
Takahashi Ready for Big Junior Year
Miu Takahashi has continued to improve since setting foot on campus at Nebraska, and the Husker junior from Japan may be ready to contend for All-Big Ten honors in 2023-24.
Takahashi set the Nebraska sophomore stroke average record (73.49) while helping propel NU to an NCAA Regional bid in 2022-23. She posted six top-25 finishes, including four top-10 showings. She also won her first individual title with a win at the Dale McNamara Invitational in Oklahoma (Oct. 10-11, 2022).
During the summer of 2023, Takahashi claimed the Nebraska Women’s Amateur Championship and competed at the U.S. Women’s Amateur.
Senior Vavrova Set to Step Up
Senior Michaela Vavrova is gearing up for her best season at Nebraska in 2023-24. The fourth-year golfer from Bojnice, Slovakia, battled through an up-and-down junior season to help the Huskers qualify for the NCAA Raleigh Regional.
The 2022 Slovakian Player of the Year, Vavrova has been a key contributor to Nebraska’s success each of her first three seasons in Lincoln, including a tie for 17th at the 2022 Big Ten Championship. She also owns a pair of top-50 NCAA Regional finishes.
Vavrova finished second at the 2022 Slovak Amateur Championship and 12th at the AMUNDI Czech Ladies Challenge. She also represented Slovakia at the 2022 World University Golf Championships in Turin, leading Slovakia to a ninth-place finish. At the 2022 World Championships, she helped Slovakia to a 31st-place finish.
Her top highlight of the 2022-23 college season came with a final-round 66 (-6) to help the Huskers claim the Westbrook Spring Invitational title (Feb. 26-27, 2023). Vavrova tied for 20th with a career-best 216.
Vavrova captured her first college title with a then-career-best 217 (+1) at the Stampede at The Creek in Elkhorn, Neb. (Oct. 4-5, 2021). She was named the Big Ten Co-Golfer of the Week (Oct. 6).
Thiele Plans to Provide Leadership in Senior Season for Big Red
Lindsey Thiele hopes to be a reliable contributor to Nebraska’s lineup during her fourth season as a Husker in 2023-24. The senior from Wahoo, Neb., is coming off her best collegiate season when she helped Nebraska to the 2023 NCAA Raleigh Regional.
Thiele finished with a career-best 74.88 stroke average while competing in all 38.5 rounds for the Huskers. She notched a pair of top-25 finishes, including a tie for eighth at the Green Wave Classic to open the season (Sept. 12-13, 2022).
Thiele (pronounced TEEL) was Nebraska’s No. 2 finisher at the 2023 Big Ten Championship, tying for 34th (228). It was her seventh top-35 finish of the season.
The most recent of three sisters (Haley, Hannah) to play golf for the Big Red, Thiele is an outstanding student and leader in community service. The Regents Scholar at Nebraska is a three-time WGCA Scholastic All-American and a two-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar. She was also a College Sports Communicators Academic All-District VII selection in 2023.
During the summer of 2023, Thiele participated alongside teammate Megan Whittaker in the Nebraska Life Skills No Filter Service Trip Abroad to Panama.
Huskers Must replace Steady Leadership of Graduate Whittaker
A hard-working, team-first leader who showed impressive improvement throughout her five collegiate seasons, Megan Whittaker completed her career by leading Nebraska to its second NCAA Regional bid in three years.
The graduate student from Elkhorn, Neb., finished with a career-best 73.48 stroke average over 38.5 rounds in 2022-23.
She finished her career with a 75.58 stroke average over 118.5 career rounds. Whittaker also claimed 15 career top-25 finishes, including six in 2022-23.
Nebraska’s first five-time WGCA Scholastic All-American, Whittaker was also a star in the community, claiming a prestigious Heart & Soul Award in 2023 after earning a Sam Foltz 27 Hero Leadership Award in 2021. She was also Nebraska’s Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winner across all women’s sports in 2023, after earning her first Big Ten Sportsmanship Award for women’s golf in 2021.
Whittaker’s ties to Nebraska women’s golf were extremely strong, as her mother Kim (Lefler) lettered as a golfer for the Huskers from 1991 to 1994, helping Nebraska advance to the 1994 NCAA West Regional as a senior.
Huskers Set Pace in Classroom
Nebraska leads NCAA Division I with 351 College Sports Communicators Academic All-Americans all-time across all sports. The Huskers also lead all schools in history with 18 NCAA Top 10 Award winners across all sports.
Nebraska women’s golf leads the nation with 94 WGCA Scholastic All-Americans since 1989, including four in 2022-23. Megan Whittaker, Lindsey Thiele, Kelli Ann Strand and
Andrea Velez all earned WGCA honors.
Whittaker became NU’s first five-time WGCA Scholastic All-American. Thiele, who earned her third WGCA honor, joins her older sisters Haley (2016, 2018, 2019) and Hannah (2018) as WGCA Scholastic All-America Huskers.
NU also owns a 95 percent graduation success rate across all student-athletes.
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