Andrea Velez Season 2024-25

One of the most experienced Huskers, Andrea Velez entered her fifth season at Nebraska hoping to play a significant role on a new-look roster in 2024-25. She opened the season by earning a lineup spot at the Badger Invitational (Sept. 8-10), where she tied for 56th in a 75-player field with a 54-hole total of 236 (+20). Velez was Nebraska's No. 5 individual finisher on the par-72, 6,306-yard layout at the University Ridge Golf Club in Verona, Wis.

Velez was Nebraska's No. 5 finisher at the Red Raider Invitational (Sept. 24-25). She closed with a three-round total of 240 (+24) on the longest course the Nebraska women's golf team has ever played with a 6,894-yard, par-72 layout at The Rawls Course in Lubbock, Texas.

She closed the fall in Nebraska's lineup at the Hurricane Invitational (Oct. 28-29). Velez finished with a season-best 228 (+12) to tie for 44th individually, including a season-best 73 (+1) in the second round on the par-72, 6,175-yard layout of the Biltmore Golf Club in Coral Gables, Fla.

Velez ended the fall with a 78.22 stroke average over nine rounds.

Velez, Miu Takahashi and Brooke Bream are the only Huskers on the 2024-25 roster who have been at Nebraska for more than one season.

Junior (2023-24)

Velez posted a 76.88 stroke average over eights rounds in 2023-24. She made her first tournament appearance of the season at the Dale McNamara Invitational (Oct. 9-10), where she produced a three-round total of 229 while competing as an individual outside Nebraska’s lineup. She carded a season-best 74 (+2) in the opening round on the par-72, 6,246-yard layout at the Golf Club of Oklahoma in Broken Arrow.

Velez opened the spring with her first lineup appearance of the year at the UCF Challenge (Feb. 3-5). She closed the three-round tournament in a tie for 84th at 229 (+13), including a season-best 72 in the final round at the Eagle Creek Golf Club in Orlando.

She competed as an individual outside Nebraska’s lineup at the rain-shortened Spartan Sun Coast Invitational in Sarasota, Fla. (Feb. 18-19). Velez tied for 67th at 157 (79-78) in challenging scoring conditions on the 6,191-yard, par-72 layout of the Palm Aire Country Club.

Sophomore (2022-23)
Velez helped the Huskers secure their second NCAA Regional bid in the past three seasons by earning lineup spots late in her third season at Nebraska. The sophomore was Nebraska’s No. 5 finisher with a 234 (75-81-78) at the Big Ten Championship at Fox Chapel Golf Club in Pittsburgh, Pa. (April 21-23). In her fourth lineup appearance of the season, Velez closed in a tie for 62nd in her first Big Ten Championship, and the Huskers counted her scores in both the first and third rounds. She served as Nebraska’s alternate at the 2023 NCAA Raleigh Regional but did not compete.

Velez earned a lineup spot in a six-count-four format for the Huskers at the Lady Buckeye Invitational (April 15-16). Playing out of the No. 6 spot on the 6,319-yard layout at the Scarlet Course in Columbus, Ohio, Velez was Nebraska’s No. 2 finisher, closing with a three-round total of 228 (75-74-79) to tie for 51st individually in a loaded 14-team field that featured 13 Big Ten teams.

She opened the season as NU’s No. 5 golfer at the Green Wave Classic in New Orleans (Sept. 12-13). She helped the Huskers to the best three-round team score in school history with an 835 (-29) by carding a career-best 218 (+2) on their way to a runner-up finish in a 14-team field at Tulane. Velez tied teammate Miu Takahashi for 35th in an 81-golfer field in New Orleans.

Velez competed as an individual outside Nebraska’s lineup at the Badger Invitational (Sept. 18-20). She tied for 60th in a 75-player field at Wisconsin with a three-round total of 236 (76-76-84). She added another solid effort by tying for 40th (228) in a 75-golfer field at the Dale McNamara Invitational (Oct. 10-11). Velez played as an individual outside the Husker lineup in Oklahoma.

She replaced Michaela Vavrova in the lineup at the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational, tying for 56th (200) in challenging scoring and weather conditions in a tournament that was eventually shortened to 27 holes.

Velez opened the spring by playing as an individual outside the Husker lineup at the FAU Paradise Invitational in Boca Raton, Fla. (Feb. 6-7). She produced a three-round total of 230 (76-74-80) to tie for 64th. She traveled with the Huskers to the Westbrook Spring Invitational (Feb. 26-27), tying for 73rd with a 230 (76-79-75) while competing as an individual outside the Nebraska lineup. She tied for 75th in a 90-player field at the Briar’s Creek Invitational in South Carolina (March 13-14), covering the 54 holes on the par-72, 6,152-yard layout in 234 (75-78-81).

She produced a 76.91 stroke average over 26.5 rounds for the Huskers in 2022-23.

Freshman (2021-22)

Velez showed continued improvement throughout the 2021 fall season, producing a pair of top-25 tournament finishes for the Huskers while competing in three events. The redshirt freshman from Colombia closed the fall with a collegiate career-best 223 (+5) to tie for 23rd while playing as an individual outside the Nebraska lineup at the White Sands Intercollegiate in the Bahamas (Oct. 22-24). Velez’s performance on the 6,415-yard layout of the Ocean Club at Paradise Island included a career-best even-par 72 in the final round.

Velez ended the fall with a 77.00 stroke average over nine rounds.

Velez made her collegiate debut with a top-20 finish at the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational in Manhattan, Kan. (Sept. 20-21). She carded consistent rounds of 75 to finish with a 54-hole score of 225 to tie for 19th in the 62-player field. Although Velez did not earn a top-five lineup spot for the Huskers at Colbert Hills Golf Club, she did help Nebraska’s four-player “B” squad to the tournament title with a three-round total of 885. Velez joined individual co-champions Lindsey Thiele and Nicole Hansen and fellow freshman Miu Takahashi (T5th) in bringing home Nebraska’s first Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational championship in 11 all-time trips to the tournament.

Velez tied for 32nd with a 245 (80-83-83) at the Stampede at The Creek (Oct. 4-5) in Elkhorn, Neb.

Redshirt (2020-21)
Velez redshirted in her first season at Nebraska after arriving on campus in January of 2021. Velez became the first Colombian in the Nebraska women’s golf program. She signed with Nebraska in November of 2019 but was forced to delay her enrollment until the spring semester of 2021 because of the worldwide outbreak of the coronavirus.

She earned a spot on the Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll in her first semester in Lincoln in the spring of 2021.

Before Nebraska

Velez won the Colombian Golf Federation Master International Infantil & Juvenil in 2018, before adding a third-place finish at the same event in 2019. Velez posted a fifth-place finish at the 2019 Campeonato Nacional e Internacional Juvenil Stroke Play in Guatemala, which featured top players from Central America and the Caribbean. She finished 11th at the 2019 Optimist International Junior Golf Championship at Trump National in Doral, Fla.

Personal
The daughter of Guillermo Velez and Constanza Lopez, Andrea was born June 24, 2002. She has a younger sister, Antonia. A finance major, Andrea earned WGCA Scholastic All-America honors in 2023. A three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection, she is also a three-time Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar. Velez is a seven-time member of the the Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll and a three-time Tom Osborne Citizenship Team selection.

“I chose Nebraska because it is an amazing university. When  I did my official visit, I just felt in love. Everybody was so nice, including all the members of the team. My dream as a child was to study in a university like Nebraska. I want to spend my next four years and more at Nebraska learning new things with really nice people.”