Huskers Continue Climb with Record-Setting Season

The Nebraska men's golf program enjoyed a record-setting season in 2025-26 that included a school-record 285.18 team stroke average.

Nebraska's stroke average represented a 3.20 strokes per round improvement over its then-school-record 288.38 average in 2024-25.

It also marked the third consecutive season that the Huskers have produced a significant improvement in team average, including a then-school-record 290.66 stroke average in 290.66.

Since 2022-23, Nebraska's team stroke average has plummeted by 8.57 strokes per round.

Nebraska's 2025-26 season was highlighted by a school-record 54-hole score of 823 (-29) on its way to winning the team championship at the 2025 Git-R-Done Invitational at Firethorn Golf Club (Sept. 22-23). The performance included a school-record 272 (-12) in the first round.

NCAA Regional qualifier Rudy Sautron capped his season with a second consecutive PING All-Midwest Region selection. The first-team All-Big Ten performer produced a school-record 70.27 stroke average in 2025-26, after setting the school record with a 71.70 stroke average in his first season at Nebraska. Sautron, who tied a school record by winning three individual tournament titles in 2025-26, came to Lincoln after spending his first collegiate season at NCAA Division II Cameron University.

The growth and development of Husker golfers was on full dispay with improvement of Jackson Benge. The sophomore from Omaha put up the third-best stroke average in school history (71.76) while competing in all 38 rounds in his second season as a Husker. Benge slashed 3.97 strokes per round over his freshman season scoring average (75.73), which came through 15 rounds. He was also a model of consistency with eight top-25 finishes during the season, including a team-best 13th-place performance at the 2026 Big Ten Championship.

Caden Mickelson also made an instant impact on the Big Red lineup with a record-setting season of his own. The freshman from Kansas City, Mo., put up a school freshman record 72.14 stroke average over 37 rounds. Mickelson produced five top-25 finishes and tied for 40th at the 2026 Big Ten Championship. His season got off to a strong start with a Nebraska freshman record 201 (-12) to finish third at the Git-R-Done Invitational to help the Huskers to the team title. His opening-round 66 (-5) at Firethorn also tied a school freshman record.

Evan McDermott continued his solid play for the Huskers despite battling an injury throughout the second half of the season. The redshirt junior from Spring Lake, Mich., was on track to make a significant cut into his stroke average before the injury. He finished with a 73.15 average, which was still a 0.29 stroke per round improvement over his 2024-25 campaign when he was also one of Nebraska's top golfers. 

The Huskers, who capped their season with an eighth-place finish at the 18-team Big Ten Championship, produced six top-five tournament finishes on the year among their 12 top-10 showings. 

The Huskers will be looking to replace seniors Davis Johnson, Quinn Yost and Bryson Oots along with Sautron and Brodie Cunningham for the 2026-27 season.

Coach Judd Cornell, who will be entering his fifth season at the helm of the Huskers, has already added two of the top junior golfers in the state to the 2026-27 Nebraska roster with the fall signings of Tommy Kelley and Jaxson Hinze.

Kelley, who closed his high school career at Creighton Prep, recently tied for fourth with a 140 (-2) at the Class A state championships at Meadowlark Hills in Kearney, while Hinze was the Class B runner-up with a 150 (+6) for York High School at Scotts Bluff Country Club. Hinze won the 2025 Nebraska Junior Amateur in Kearney, while Kelley was a three-time semifinalist at the Nebraska Junior Match Play (2023, 2024, 2025).