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Women's Golf

Huskers Set for Dale McNamara Invitational

After a three-week break from competition, the Nebraska women’s golf team resumes fall action at the Dale McNamara Invitational (Oct. 9-10).
 
The 54-hole tournament at the Golf Club of Oklahoma in Broken Arrow begins with an 8:30 a.m. (CT) shotgun start on Monday, Oct. 9. Following 36 holes of competition on Monday, the tournament will conclude with the final round on Tuesday, beginning with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. (CT). Live scoring for Tulsa’s annual tournament will be available through Golfstat.com.
 
The Huskers will be part of a strong 15-team field on the par-72, 6,242-yard layout at the Golf Club of Oklahoma, with nine teams ranked among the top 100 in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings (Sept. 29). South Florida leads the field at No. 27, while Colorado State (40), the hosts from Tulsa (50), UTSA (51) and Nebraska (54) put five top-55 teams in the field. Sam Houston (83), Kennesaw State (84), Oral Roberts (94) and Abilene Christian (100) round out the top-100 teams in the field.
 
Nebraska has a solid recent history at the Dale McNamara Invitational, finishing second in a 13-team field with a three-round total of 869 (+5) at the 2022 version of the tournament at the Cedar Ridge Country Club in Broken Arrow (Oct. 10-11). The Huskers came up just one stroke shy of the hosts from Tulsa for the team title, but Nebraska’s Miu Takahashi claimed the individual crown with a one-stroke win over Tulsa’s Lovisa Gunnar. Takahashi closed at 213 (-3) with rounds of 71, 73 and 69. Kelli Ann Strand tied for third at 215 (-1), including rounds of 76, 70 and 69.
 
The Big Red also took second in a 13-team field at the Golf Club of Oklahoma (Oct. 11-12, 2021). Nebraska finished at 872 (+8), trailing only the team champions from UNLV at 861 (-3). The Huskers got a pair of top-10 finishes with Vanessa Bouvet and Megan Whittaker tying for sixth at 215 (-1).
 
Dale McNamara Invitational
Oct. 9-10, 2023
Host: Tulsa
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
Golf Club of Oklahoma (Par 72/6,242 Yards)
 
Schedule
Monday, Oct. 9 (Rounds 1-2)    8:30 a.m. (CT) (Shotgun)
Tuesday, Oct. 10 (Round 3)    8:30 a.m. (CT) (Shotgun)
 
Live Scoring: Golfstat.com
 
Participating Teams (15):
Abilene Christian, Arkansas State, BYU, Cal Poly, Colorado State, Kennesaw State, Nebraska, Oklahoma City,
Oral Roberts, Sam Houston, South Florida, Southern Miss, Tulsa, UTSA
 
Nebraska Lineup (5-count-4)
1. Michaela Vavrova, Sr., Bojnice, Slovakia 
2. Miu Takahashi, Jr., Nasu-machi, Japan
3. Arden Louchheim, Fr., Park City, Utah
4. Kelli Ann Strand, So., Challis, Idaho
5. Lena Hassert, Jr., Kreuzau, Germany
IND. Andrea Velez, Jr., Pereira, Colombia
 
Senior Vavrova Off to Strong Start for Huskers
Michaela Vavrova has been Nebraska’s top finisher at each of its first two tournaments of the fall and will play out of the No. 1 spot in the lineup at the upcoming Dale McNamara Invitational.
 
The senior from Bojnice, Slovakia led the Huskers with a career-best 205 (-11) to tie for fifth individually at the Sam Golden Invitational (Sept. 11-12). Vavrova fired rounds of 69-68-68 on the par-72, 6,413-yard layout of the Oakmont Country Club in Corinth, Texas, to earn her Big Ten Golfer-of-the-Week honors for the second time in her career on Sept. 13.
 
Vavrova added a a 223 (72-77-74) to help the Huskers tie for sixth in a loaded 15-team field at the Mary Fossum Invitational in East Lansing, Mich. (Sept. 17-18). Vavrova owns a team-best 71.33 stroke average over six rounds this fall.
 
Returning All-Big Ten Husker Kelli Ann Strand added a solid performance of her own in Texas. The sophomore from Challis, Idaho missed a top-10 finish by just one stroke, tying for 13th with a three-round total of 209 (-7) that included rounds of 70-68-71.It was Strand’s 10th career top-20 finish, including a tie for 20th at the 2023 Big Ten Championship.
 
Huskers Pursue 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 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. 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.