116th Nebraska Amateur Returns to Fremont
Championship Begins Tuesday at Fremont Golf Club
OMAHA (July 14, 2024) – The state's oldest championship will return to Fremont Golf Club with the 116th Nebraska Amateur Championship to be staged July 16-19.
This will be the sixth time hosting the storied championship for Fremont Golf Club and the first since 2018 when Omaha's Alex Schaake won his third of what would become four titles in a row with a 271 (-13) total. It was a nine-stroke victory for Schaake.
In 2004, Lincoln’s A.J. Elgert won back-to-back titles in an epic 7-hole playoff with Omaha’s Patrick Duffy. The list of champions at the club also includes Nebraska Golf Hall of Famers Tom Olson of Omaha (1997), Larry Sock of Lincoln (1985) and Tom Sieckmann of Omaha (1974). Olson was the oldest champion at the time when he won in 1997 at the age of 51, while Sock went on to win twice more and Sieckmann added another title in 1976.
One of the strongest fields in championship history is set to compete in 2024. A full field of 156 players will try to join a prestigious list of champions. That list features five past champions, including a local legend.
Fremont's John Sajevic will be playing at his home club, having won his title 35 years ago in 1989 at Lochland Country Club in Hastings. He is looking to extend several championship records he owns, including the most 36-hole cuts made (37). His son, Andy Sajevic, a four-time champion had to withdraw due to injury.
The field includes four other past champions, including Lincoln's David Easley, who hoisted the trophy in 2021. Easley needed a birdie to force a playoff after watching runner-up Nate Vontz make an eagle on No. 18. He made another birdie on the same hole in the playoff to earn his first individual NebGolf title. Easley will play alongside John Sajevic for the first two rounds, and they'll be joined by the 2023 Nebraska Match Play Champion, Calvin Freeman of Table Rock.
Omaha's Ryan Nietfeldt is seeking his second Nebraska Amateur championship after taking home the coveted trophy in 2002 at Wild Horse Golf Club in Gothenburg. Nietfeldt is paired with the NebGolf Junior Point Standings leader and 2023 Nebraska Junior Co-Golfer of the Year, Coltrane Mittag of Ashland. Mittag is coming off a Semifinal appearance at the Nebraska Junior Match Play last week. They'll be joined by Gavin Gerch of Lincoln, who was the Stroke Play Qualifying Medalist at the Nebraska Match Play last month.
Two-time Champion David Clouse of Friend is competing 10 years after he became the oldest champion in Nebraska Amateur history at 54, taking the title at Norfolk Country Club in 2014. It was 15 years after he won his first title in 1999. Jayson Brueggemann of Lincoln, the 2008 Champion, is in the field now as well.
Also in the field, is one of the hottest players in the state, Trevor Gutschewski of Elkhorn. Gutschewski finished runner-up at the Nebraska Junior Amateur and Nebraska Match Play last month, and went on to win the 35th Nebraska Junior Match Play last week. This past weekend, he also won the Indian Creek Invitational, earning a spot in the Korn Ferry Tour's Pinnacle Bank Championship in August.
The last two Nebraska Amateur Golfers of the Year are paired together, with Omaha's Luke Gutschewski and Bennington's Johnny Spellerberg set to play with York's Reed Malleck. Gutschewski and Spellerberg shared the award in 2022, and Spellerberg earned the honor again in 2023.
Last year's runner-up, Charlie Zielinski of Omaha is back for another shot as well, and will play in a group with Brueggemann and Omaha's Ivan Yabut. Zielinski fell a stroke short last year after a four-round battle with Matthew Schaefer of Fordyce, the 115th Nebraska Amateur Champion.
Fremont Golf Club is a par-71 layout that will measure 6,540 yards for the championship.
Play begins at 8 a.m. off both Nos. 1 and 10 tees on Tuesday and Wednesday, after which the field will be cut to the low 60 scores and ties for Thursday and Friday's rounds.
Groupings and starting times for the first two rounds are available on the championship website, along with the scoring page and additional information.
About NebGolf
The Nebraska Golf Association (NebGolf), founded in 1966, is comprised of all members of public and private clubs and/or municipal or regional golf associations which utilize an approved handicap service recognized by the USGA and provided by NebGolf. Our mission is to uphold and promote the game of golf and its values to all golfers in Nebraska. Among the duties of the Association include governance of member clubs and service as their handicapping and course rating authority, conduct of state golf championships, local USGA qualifying & other notable competitions, promotion of junior golf, presentation of worthwhile educational programs and support of allied golf organizations in Nebraska. The Nebraska Golf Association is an Allied Golf Association of the USGA and carries out core services including Handicap Administration and Oversight, Course Rating, Rules of Golf and Rules of Amateur Status, Tournaments and USGA Championship Qualifiers and USGA Initiatives and Community Programs.
