Full Field Ready for Return to Lochland for 113th Nebraska Amateur
Championship Begins Tuesday at Lochland Country Club in Hastings
HASTINGS (July 25, 2021) – Another loaded field is set for the 113th Nebraska Amateur Championship at Lochland Country Club in Hastings with 156 top amateurs chasing the ultimate prize of Nebraska Amateur golf.
It will be Lochland Country Club’s sixth time hosting the championship and first since 1998, when Lincoln's Steve Friesen put on a historic performance. Friesen, a Husker at the time, broke several records, including a still-unmatched 72-hole total of 267 (-21), to steamroll his way to the championship by 13 strokes.
Omaha's Andy Sajevic, the defending champion, is back and will look to claim his fifth Nebraska Amateur Championship. The Fremont native won last year’s title at Happy Hollow Club in Omaha to earn his eighth overall NGA title. A fifth Nebraska Amateur title would move him to fourth on the all-time list, behind only Rod Bliss Jr., Sam Reynolds and Bob Astleford. Sajevic will start his championship at 9:45 a.m. off No. 10 on Tuesday with Omaha’s Charlie Zielinski and Eric Peel.
Sajevic is one of just three past champions in the field. Others looking for more hardware, include his father, John Sajevic of Fremont and Ryan Nietfeldt of Elkhorn. John Sajevic won his lone Nebraska Amateur title back in 1989 at Lochland Country Club, which completed a sweep of the majors, following his Nebraska Match Play win earlier that summer. He's also only one title away from moving into solo-first in NGA men's titles, currently at 10. In addition, Sajevic is one top-5 finish away from tying Bob Astleford for most all-time with 15.
Nietfeldt, on the other hand, won his title in 2002 at Wild Horse Golf Club in Gothenburg. He currently owns nine NGA titles, and would tie Sajevic and Omaha's Alex Schaake for the most all-time with a win. Sajevic finished tied for 25th at the 1998 Nebraska Amateur, while Nietfeldt finished 22nd.
Sajevic will tee off at 9:35 a.m. off No. 10 with 2019 Nebraska Match Play runner-up Dan Huston and Brad Rowe of Omaha. Nietfeldt will start play at 2:05 p.m. off No. 10 with 2021 Nebraska Match Play semifinalist Danny Woodhead of Elkhorn and William Amundsen of Bennington, who finished in the top-10 in last year’s Nebraska Amateur.
A few past Nebraska Match Play Champions are still looking for the coveted Nebraska Amateur title. The 2021 champion and Creighton senior Nate Vontz will tee off at 1:15 p.m. off No. 10 with Fordyce's Matthew Schaefer and Husker Tristan Nelko. Vontz is looking to join Friesen and John Sajevic in completing a sweep of the Nebraska Match Play and Nebraska Amateur at Lochland.
The 2019 Nebraska Match Play Champion and 2019 Nebraska Amateur runner-up Caleb Badura of Aurora will start at 1:25 p.m. off No. 10 with 2004 Nebraska Match Play Champion and now college coach Travis Minzel of Lincoln. Minzel was recently named the assistant coach for the Nebraska Men’s Golf team. Papillion's Josh Wilson will join them, just a couple weeks after making 10 birdies during his second round in the U.S. Amateur Qualifier at Lochland to get into a playoff for the final qualifying spot.
Last year’s runner-up and Southeast Community College men’s golf head coach Calvin Freeman will tee it up with former Nebraska football player Jay Moore of Lincoln and Creighton golfer Jackson Thompson, who won the playoff against Wilson for the spot in the U.S. Amateur.
The group starting at 9:30 a.m. off No. 1, also includes a couple NGA champions with back-to-back Nebraska Senior Amateur Champion Ed Wyatt of Lincoln teeing off with 2021 Nebraska Junior Match Play Champion Christopher Atkinson of Omaha, as well as Bellevue University’s Alex Zillig.
Five players in this year's field competed in the 1998 Nebraska Amateur at Lochland Country Club. That list includes John Sajevic, Nietfeldt, Lincoln's David Easley, Hickman's Myron Parsley and LCC member Jon Smith of Doniphan.
Lochland Country Club is a Par-72 layout that will measure 7,043 yards for the championship. The course features five par-5s, five par-3s and eight par-4s.
Play begins at 8 a.m. off both No. 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 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.
