The Nebraska women’s golf team closes its 2023 fall campaign by competing in an outstanding field at the Landfall Tradition in Wilmington, N.C., Oct. 27-29.
The 54-hole tournament at the Country Club at Landfall begins with first-round tee times starting at 7:30 a.m. (CT) on Friday, Oct. 27. The second gets underway with tee times on Saturday at 7:30 a.m. (CT), before the tournament concludes with Sunday’s final-round shotgun start at 7:45 a.m. (CT).
Live scoring for UNC Wilmington’s tournament will be available through Golfstat.com.
The Huskers will be part of a large and loaded field on the par-72, 6,194-yard layout of the Pete Dye Course at the Country Club of Landfall. The 18-team field features 14 teams that qualified for 2023 NCAA Regional competition, including Nebraska along with Alabama, Arizona, Clemson, Duke, Furman, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan State, NC State, Purdue, SMU, Tennessee and UCF. Arizona, Clemson, Duke, Michigan State and Virginia all advanced to the 30-team field at the 2023 NCAA Championships.
The Huskers will be trying to close the fall season strong following three straight top-six finishes to open the season. Nebraska is coming off a fifth-place finish in a 14-team field at the Dale McNamara Invitational in Broken Arrow, Okla. (Oct. 9-10).
Sophomore Kelli Ann Strand led the Big Red with a runner-up finish at 206 (-10) over three rounds. She added Big Ten Golfer-of-the-Week honors (Oct. 11).
Strand will be playing out of the top spot in Nebraska’s lineup in North Carolina, followed by junior Miu Takahashi, junior Lena Hassert, senior Michaela Vavrova and freshman Arden Louchheim.
Those five Huskers have made up the top five in the lineup in each of Nebraska’s four fall events. Strand (Challis, Idaho) leads the Huskers with a school-record pace 71.11 stroke average over nine rounds, while Vavrova (Bojnice, Slovakia) has added a career-best 71.89 average.
Landfall TraditionWilmington, North CarolinaUNC WilmingtonCountry Club of Landfall-Dye Course (Par 72/6,194 Yards)
Tournament ScheduleFriday, Oct. 27 (Round 1) – 7:30 a.m. (CT) (Tee Times)Saturday, Oct. 28 (Round 2) – 7:30 a.m. (CT) (Tee Times)Sunday, Oct. 29 (Round 3) – 7:45 a.m. (CT) (Shotgun)
Live Scoring – Golfstat.com
Participating Teams (18): Alabama, Arizona, Clemson, East Carolina, Duke, Furman, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan State, Nebraska, NC State, Penn State, Purdue, SMU, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, UCF, UNC Wilmington
Nebraska Lineup1. Kelli Ann Strand (So., Challis Idaho)2. Miu Takahashi (Jr., Nasu-machi, Japan) 3. Lena Hassert (Jr., Kreuzau, Germany)4. Michaela Vavrova (Sr., Bojnice, Slovakia)5. Arden Louchheim (Fr., Park City, Utah)
Senior Vavrova Off to Strong Start for Huskers
Michaela Vavrova was Nebraska’s top finisher at its first two tournaments of the fall and played out of the No. 1 spot in the lineup at the Dale McNamara Invitational (Oct. 9-10).
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 Big Ten Golfer-of-the-Week honors for the second time in her career on Sept. 13.
Vavrova added 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 career-best 71.89 stroke average over nine rounds this fall.
Huskers Pursuing 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.
Strand has continued to play outstanding golf, leading Nebraska with a 71.11 stroke average over nine rounds that puts her on school-record pace for the season. Strand is coming off a runner-up finish with a 206 (-10) at the Dale McNamara Invitational (Oct. 9-10). With rounds of 70-66-70, Strand earned Big Ten Golfer-of-the-Week honors (Oct. 11).
The sophomore from Challis, Idaho owns 11 career top-25 finishes, including seven top-10 showings. She claimed 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.
