Madeleine Sheils Season 2011-12

Career Highlights

• NCAA Central Regional Individual Qualifier (2012)
• First-Team All-Big Ten (2012)
• Big Ten All-Tournament Team (2012)
• Tied for Third at Big Ten Tournament (2012)
• Two-Time Big Ten Golfer of the Week (Oct. 6, Oct. 19, 2011)
• No. 2 Career Stroke Average in School History (76.88, 2009-12)
• No. 3 Season Stroke Average in School History (74.67, 2012)
• One Career Individual Title (2011 Edean Ihlanfeldt)
• 18 Career Top 25 Finishes (9 in 2011-12)
• 11 Career Top 10 Finishes (6 in 2011-12)
• Match Play Quarterfinalist at U.S. Women's TRANS (2011)
• Match Play Qualifier at U.S. Women's Amateur (2011)
• No. 3 Sophomore Stroke Average in Nebraska History (76.35, 2010)
• Tied for 11th at Big 12 Championships (2010)
• Tied for 40th at Big 12 Championships (2011)
• 58th at Big 12 Championships (2009)
• NGCA Scholastic All-American (2009, 2010, 2011)
• Big Ten Distinguished Scholar (2012)
• Academic All-Big Ten (2012)
• First-Team Academic All-Big 12 (2010, 2011)
• Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll (Fall 2011, 2012; Spring 2012)
• Big 12 Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll
  (Fall 2008, 2009, 2010; Spring 2009, 2010, 2011)
• Nebraska Student-Athlete HERO Leadership Award (2011)
• Idaho Stroke Play Champion (2009)
• Trusted Choice Big "I" Junior Classic Champion (2007)
• Ranked No. 29 in Polo Golf Rankings for Class of 2008
• Tied for 11th at Trusted Choice Big "I" Junior Classic (2008)
• PGA Junior Series Champion (Las Vegas, 2007)
• Idaho Junior State Champion (2005, 2006)
• Idaho High School State Champion (2005)
• Led Bishop Kelly to Four Straight State Team Titles

Best Finish: 1st (2011 Edean Ihlanfedlt Invitational)
Career Stroke Average: 76.88

Senior (2011-12)
Madeleine Sheils (pronounced SHEELS) put the finishing touches on one of the finest individual seasons in Nebraska history. The senior from Boise, Idaho, earned an NCAA Central Regional berth after claiming spots on the first-team All-Big Ten squad and the Big Ten All-Tournament Team. She tied for third at the Big Ten Tournament with a three-round total of 218 (76-71-71), which marked the best performance by a Husker golfer at a conference tournament since fellow Idahoan Elli Brown finished third at the Big 12 Tournament in 2007.

Sheils' performance at the Big Ten Tournament in French Lick, Ind., April 27-29, marked her ninth top-20 and 10th top-25 finish of the 2011-12 regular season. She closed with seven top-10 finishes, including a trio of top-five showings as a senior. She posted a 238 in her final appearance as a Husker at the NCAA Central Regional on the Scarlet Course in Columbus, Ohio, May 10-12.

Sheils registered one of the best performances in Nebraska history by capturing her first collegiate title at the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational, Oct. 3-5. Sheils scorched the course at the Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Wash., with a then-career-best three-round total of 214, including a then-school-record-tying final-round 67.

Sheils' effort came on an unforgiving par-72, 6,003-yard layout at Sahalee that surrendered just seven rounds better than par among 63 golfers over three rounds (189 total rounds). Her 67 was the only round better than 70 in the tournament, in a 12-team field that included six Pac-12 Conference teams and four teams ranked in the nation's top 35. Sheils opened the tournament with a 73 to sit in a tie for fourth, before adding a second-round 74 to enter the final day in fifth place. Sheils overcame a four-shot deficit to Washington's Jennifer Yang and Oregon's Cassy Isagawa to win the title by one stroke over both of those golfers.

Sheils won Nebraska's first-ever Big Ten Conference Golfer-of-the-Week award for her performance in Washington. She added her second Big Ten Golfer-of-the-Week honor just two weeks later after another top-five finish at the Hoosier Fall Invitational. Sheils tied for fourth with a 225 (77-76-72) at the Hoosier Invite in Carmel, Ind., Oct. 17-18. 

Sheils registered a sixth-place finish at the Mountain View Collegiate in Tucson, Ariz., March 23-24. Sheils carded a career-best four-under-par 212 through three rounds, including an opening-round 69 to go along with a final-round 71 on the 6,227-yard, par-72 layout at Mountain View.

She added another top-10 finish by tying for sixth with a 225 (76-76-73) in the BYU at Entrada Classic on the Snow Canyon Course in St. George, Utah, March 19-20. Sheils opened Nebraska's spring campaign with an eighth-place finish in a loaded field at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic, Feb. 12-14. Sheils produced her second-best tournament score of her senior season with a 220 (72-76-72).

Sheils opened her senior season with a top-10 finish by taking 10th at Nebraska's Chip-N Club Invitational at the Country Club of Lincoln, Sept. 12-13. Sheils produced a three-round total of 229 (77-77-75) on a course that surrendered only two rounds better than par in an 81-player field over three rounds.

She tied for 17th at the Lady Buckeye Spring Invitational, April 21-22. Sheils settled for a three-round score of 233 (76-81-76), but still earned her eighth top-20 finish of the year. It also included her third hole-in-one in the past 10 months in the first round on the Scarlet Course.

Sheils added a tie for 21st in Nebraska's second spring tournament with a 221 (74-74-73) at the Westbrook Spring Invitational in Peoria, Ariz., Feb. 26-27. Her lone finish of the season outside the top 25 came with a tie for 37th at the Alamo Invitational to close the fall campaign. Her performance in San Antonio included a three-under-par 69 in the second round for her second-best round of the year, but she struggled with a final-round 84. She still finished the tournament with a solid 226 (73-69-84) over three rounds.

Sheils led the Huskers as a senior with a 74.67 stroke average, and closed her career with a 76.88 stroke average over 117 rounds, which ranked as the second-best career average in Nebraska history. 

The three-time NGCA Scholastic All-American will try to become just the fourth Husker in history to earn four Scholastic All-America awards, while also contending for CoSIDA Academic All-America honors. She was also a finalist for Nebraska's Female Student-Athlete-of-the-Year Award as a senior.

Junior (2010-11)
Sheils produced a strong junior campaign with four top-25 individual finishes, including a pair of top-10 showings. She also notched Nebraska's No. 2 stroke average (76.34) while competing in all 32 rounds in the NU lineup.

Sheils posted a season-best tie for third at the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational in Lawrence, Kan. Her three-round 223 (72-70-81) included a second-round 70. After tying for 45th (84-74-74-232) at the Johnie Imes Invite in Columbia, Mo., Sheils added a tie for 15th (72-81-74-227) at the Dale McNamara Invite in Owasso, Okla.

Sheils closed the fall by tying for 24th (78-73-74-225) at the Alamo Invite. She opened the 2010-11 campaign by tying for 48th (80-78-158) at the rain-shortened Chip-N Club Invite at Wilderness Ridge.

She produced her second top-10 finish of the season by tying for 10th in an 82-player field at BYU Entrada Classic in St. George, Utah, March 21-22. The next time out, Sheils fired a season-best 69 in the final round of the Mountain View Collegiate in Tucson, Ariz. She finished at 226 in a tie for 49th. She closed regular-season play by tying for 32nd (78-76-80-234) at the Baylor Spring Invite in Waco, Texas, April 11-12, before tying for 40th (75-75-79-229) at the 2011 Big 12 Championships in Columbia, Mo., April 22-24.

Sheils opened the spring with a tie for 36th (78-75-76-22) in a 33-team field at the Kiawah Island Intercollegiate, before adding a tie for 49th (81-73-77-231) at the UNLV Spring Invite.

Sophomore (2009-10)
Sheils registered Nebraska's second-best stroke average (76.35), while joining JC Stevenson as the only Huskers to play in all 31 rounds on the year. Sheils' scoring average represented nearly a seven-stroke improvement from her freshman season (83.17, 18 rounds). It was also the No. 3 stroke average by a sophomore in school history.

Sheils produced Nebraska's top finish at the 2010 Big 12 Championships, tying for 11th at 225 (75-76-74) at the Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club in Norman, Okla., April 23-25.

She produced her top finish of the year by tying for seventh with a 223 at Nebraska's Northern Migration in Florence, Ariz., March 15-17. Her performance in Arizona included a final-round 70.

She notched the first top-10 finish of her career by tying for 10th at the rain-shortened Alamo Invite (73) on Oct. 27. Sheils opened the season with a tie for 15th (73-73-78-224) at Nebraska's Chip-N Club Invitate at Wilderness Ridge, Sept. 14-15.

Sheils posted a 237 (83-76-78) in Nebraska's lineup at the Ron Moore Intercollegiate in Highlands Ranch, Colo., Sept. 21-23. She traveled to the Heather Farr Memorial in Erie, Colo., Oct. 5-6, to compete as an individual and closed the 104-player tournament in a tie for 64th at 239 (81-82-76). She closed the fall schedule with a career-best 218 (72-75-71) on the par 70 layout at The Challenge at Onion Creek in Austin, Texas, Nov. 2-3. Sheils' final-round 71 was a career best at the time and allowed her to finish as NU's No. 2 performer at the 21-team tournament in a tie for 32nd.

Freshman (2008-09)
Sheils made her first career lineup appearance at the UNLV Spring Invite, March 9-11, then earned spots in the top five at the Lady Buckeye Spring Invite and the 2009 Big 12 Championships.

In her first Big 12 Tournament appearance, Sheils fired an opening-round 79 on the par 73 layout of the Rawls Course. She finished 58th (253) to close her freshman season with an 83.17 stroke average over 18 rounds.

Sheils tied for 85th at the 18-team UNLV Spring Invite with a 244. She officially finished 79th at the Lady Buckeye, but was disqualified from the first round because of a scoring error. She opened the spring with a first-round 78 at the Aztec Spring Invite but was forced to withdraw along with all of the other individual competitors because of poor playing conditions in Chula Vista, Calif.

Sheils opened the fall by tying for 53rd with a 239 (84-75-80) at Nebraska's Chip-N Club Invite, before posting a tie for 47th (81-79-85-245) at the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invite.

She earned another spot on NU's travel roster for The Challenge at Wolfdancer in Lost Pines, Texas, to close the fall campaign. Sheils tied for 61st (85-83-81).

High School/Amateur
In the summer of 2009, Sheils captured the Idaho Golf Association Stroke Play championship. Before coming to Nebraska, Sheils was No. 29 in the Polo Golf rankings for the Class of 2008 and was ranked among the top 200 players overall in the Junior World rankings.

She won the 2007 Trusted Choice Big "I" Junior Classic - one of the most prestigious junior events in the country - at Crane Creek Country Club in Boise. She added another top-15 showing at the event by finishing in a tie for 11th in North Carolina in 2008. She also competed in the 2007 Callaway Junior World Championships in San Diego in July 2007. She won the PGA Junior Series in Las Vegas in June 2007 by eight strokes, including an opening-round 68.

Sheils won the 2005 Idaho State High School championship as a freshman. As a junior in 2007, Sheils' Bishop Kelly team ran away with the title by a whopping 115 strokes for its third straight Idaho Class 4A team title. Sheils led the school to a fourth straight state championship in 2008. Sheils ranked No. 1 in her graduating class at Bishop Kelly, while also earning a spot in the National Honor Society.

Personal
The daughter of Max and Joni Sheils, Madeleine was born Sept. 29, 1989, in Boise, Idaho. She has one sister, Natalie. Madeleine majored in philosophy at Nebraska and earned her bachelor's degree in December of 2012. She was a three-time NGCA Scholastic All-American (2009, 2010, 2011). A Big Ten Distiguished Scholar in 2012, Sheils was also an academic All-Big Ten selection as a senior. She added first-team academic All-Big 12 accolades in 2010 and 2011, and was a six-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll. She earned spots on the Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll in the fall of 2011 and 2012, and the spring semester of 2012. She also earned of NU's prestigious Student-Athlete HERO Leadership awards for her commitment to Nebraska's award-winning Life Skills program.

Sheils' Career Statistics