Talented Field Headed to Wild Horse for 54th Nebraska Match Play Championship
Stroke Play Qualifying Begins Tuesday at Wild Horse Golf Club
GOTHENBURG (June 11, 2021) – The 54th Nebraska Match Play Championship is set for June 15-19 at Wild Horse Golf Club in Gothenburg with a field overflowing with great talent.
The championship begins with 36 holes of Stroke Play Qualifying on June 15 and 16, after which the field will be cut to 32 players and seeded into a match play bracket. Match play begins Thursday, June 17, with the Rounds of 32 and 16, followed by the Quarterfinals and Semifinals on Friday, and the 36-hole Championship Final on Saturday.
Despite 2020 champion Luke Kluver of Norfolk not returning to defend his title, there are plenty of former champions eager to add to their trophy case. Kluver is competing in the Sunnehanna Amateur next week in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
Current Husker golfer and Aurora native Caleb Badura is the most recent winner in the field, claiming the title in 2019. He fell to Kluver in last year’s semifinals on the 18th hole. Other past champions competing include the reigning, and four-time Nebraska Amateur Champion Andy Sajevic of Fremont, who won his match play title in 2013. Travis Minzel of Lincoln (2004) and Ryan Nietfeldt of Elkhorn (2003) are also in the field. Each will look to become only the eighth player to win multiple Nebraska Match Play Championships.
Nietfeldt is on the lookout for his tenth career NGA title, at a place where he's won one before. He captured the 2002 Nebraska Amateur at Wild Horse Golf Club. Another championship win would tie him with Fremont's John Sajevic and Omaha's Alex Schaake for the most career men’s titles. Nietfeldt’s most recent wins came in 2019 winning both the Nebraska Mid-Amateur and Four-Ball Championships. He also finished runner-up to Kluver at last year's championship, setting a record with his third runner-up finish.
Outside of former champions, David Easley of Lincoln will look to make a splash and continue his successful year, as he currently leads the 2021 NGA Points Rankings on the strength of runner-up finishes at The Homesteader at Beatrice Country Club and the Fremont Invitational at Fremont Golf Club. Other top points players joining him will be Johnny Spellerberg of Bennington (No. 4) and Jay Moore of Lincoln (No. 6).
Southeast Community College men’s golf coach Calvin Freeman will make another appearance in his second year after his amateur status was granted back. Freeman advanced to the semifinals last year, losing to Nietfeldt, and also finished runner-up at the Nebraska Amateur. He'll play alongside Nate Vontz of Lincoln and the 2020 Nebraska Junior Amateur Golfer of the Year Luke Gutschewski of Elkhorn in the qualifying rounds. The Creighton Bluejay, Vontz, is looking for his first NGA title, while Gutschewski now owns a Nebraska Junior Match Play (2019) and a Nebraska Junior Amateur (2020) title.
Former Nebraska running back, and 10-year NFL veteran Danny Woodhead of Elkhorn will also be making an appearance at Wild Horse after competing at the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Chambers Bay Golf Course in Washington last month. Woodhead and his partner, Michael Wilhelm, did not make the cut after two rounds of stroke play.
Wild Horse Golf Club is a par-72 layout that will measure around 7,002 yards for the championship. Play begins at 8 a.m. for Tuesday and Wednesday’s Stroke Play Qualifying as well for all match play rounds. Pairings for qualifying are available on the championship website below, along with the scoring page and additional information.
Nebraska Match Play Championship
About the NGA
The Nebraska Golf Association, 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 the NGA. 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.
