Huskers Look to Pay It Forward in Arizona

The Nebraska men’s golf team returns to the course for the Bell Bank “Pay It Forward” Collegiate in Litchfield Park, Ariz., March 24-25.

The two-day, 54-hole event on a 7,400-yard, par-72 layout of the Gold Course at the Wigwam Resort is hosted by Minnesota. Action begins with a shotgun start on Monday at 10 a.m. (CT) with two rounds of continuous play. The tournament concludes with Tuesday’s final round beginning at 10 a.m. (CT). Fans can follow the live scoring at scoreboard.clippd.com.

Nebraska will be part of a 16-team field that includes Creighton, Denver, Drake, Eastern Michigan, Iowa State, Loyola Chicago, Marquette, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Omaha, South Dakota, South Dakota State, UC Santa Barbara, and Bethel and St. Thomas from Minnesota.

Rudy Sautron leads the Huskers to Arizona following his fourth top-10 finish of the season. The sophomore from Reunion Island, France, tied for eighth with a 139 (-1) at the weather-shortened Johnnie-O at Sea Island in St. Simons Island, Ga. (March 17-18). Sautron leads the Huskers with a 71.26 stroke average over 19 rounds. He enters the tournament at No. 141 in the national rankings. He produced three top-10 finishes during the fall, including a title in his Husker debut at the Gopher Invitational (Sept. 8-9). He added a tie for third at the Qubein Cup (Oct. 14-15), before closing the fall with a sixth-place showing at the Steelwood Collegiate.

Senior Hamish Murray ranks No. 2 among the Huskers with a 72.10 stroke average on the season. He opened the spring by tying for seventh with a 212 (-4) at the Palmas Del Mar Collegiate to open the spring. He closed the fall with a tie for 12th individually with a 211 (-5) at the Steelwood Collegiate. It was his third top-15 finish of the fall, including a season-best tie for seventh at the Git-R-Done Invitational at Firethorn (Sept. 23-24).

Murray matched graduate teammate Reed Malleck in a tie for 38th at 144 (+4) at The Johnnie-O. Malleck has produced the best season of his career with a 73.53 stroke average over 17 rounds for the Huskers.

Brodie Cunningham was Nebraska’s No. 2 finisher at The Johnnie-O by tying for 13th at 141 (+1). The true freshman from Glasgow, Scotland owns a 72.64 stroke over 11 rounds for the Big Red this season.

Redshirt sophomore Evan McDermott rounds out Nebraska’s five-player lineup in Arizona with a 73.40 stroke average after tying for 31st at The Johnnie-O with a 143 (+3) last week.

Live updates and scoring for Bell Bank “Pay It Forward” Collegiate can be found at HuskersGolf on Instagram and X, and Scoreboard.clippd.com. Complete coverage can be found at Huskers.com. 

Bell Bank "Pay It Forward" Collegiate
Litchfield Park, Arizona (Host: Minnesota)
Wigwam Resort - Gold Course (Par 72, 7,400 Yards)

Schedule
Monday, March 24 (Rounds 1 & 2) - 10 a.m. CT (shotgun)
Tuesday, March 25 (Round 3) - 10 a.m. CT (shotgun)

Live Scoring: Scoreboard.clippd.com

Participating Teams (16)
Bethel (Minn.)
Creighton
Denver
Drake
Eastern Michigan
Iowa State
Loyola Chicago
Marquette
Minnesota
Nebraska
North Dakota
Omaha
St. Thomas (Minn.)
South Dakota
South Dakota State
UC Santa Barbara

Nebraska Lineup (5-count-4)
1. Rudy Sautron, So., Reunion Island, France 
2. Evan McDermott, RSo., Spring Lake, Michigan
3. Brodie Cunningham, Fr., Glasgow, Scotland
4. Hamish Murray, Sr., Sydney, Australia
5. Reed Malleck, Gr., York, Nebraska
IND - Quinn Yost, Jr., Farmington, New Mexico