Nebraska Four-Ball to Kickoff 2022 Season
Championship Begins Saturday at The Players Club
OMAHA (April 21, 2022) - The 2022 championship season has arrived, and the 21st Nebraska Four-Ball Championship will leadoff this weekend at The Players Club in Omaha.
The coveted event filled once again in record time this year, taking just four minutes to reach a full field of 52 sides. That field includes four past champion teams, including the defending champions, and 11 others who have at least one partner who owns a Four-Ball title.
Elkhorn's Cole Grandfield and Omaha's Ryan Turek return to their home club to defend the title they won in a playoff last year. It was the fourth-straight year the championship had been decided in a playoff, with Turek rolling in a birdie on the second-playoff hole to secure the win over Lincoln's Jay Moore and Travis Minzel. It was the first NGA title for both Grandfield and Turek. They're paired with fellow Players Club members Curtis Taylor of Bennington and Matt Petersen of Omaha, who won the 2003 title, at 10:30 a.m. off No. 1 for Saturday's first round.
Three other past champion teams are looking to collect another trophy, including Lincoln's David Easley and Omaha's Joel Wisdom. A win for them would break a tie for the most Four-Ball titles all-time, as they are currently tied with Lincoln's Knox Jones and Fremont's John Sajevic, with three each. Easley and Wisdom last won in 2020, and Easley followed that up with a remarkable win at the 2021 Nebraska Amateur last summer. They'll get started at 10:10 a.m. off No. 1 with Omaha's Michael Wilhelm and Elkhorn's Danny Woodhead, who played in the 2021 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship together.
The record-setting duo of Omaha's Dylan Heng and Norfolk's Lance Lawson is back. They have four-straight top 20 finishes following their 2017 title, during which they set several championship marks, including the 36 and 18-hole scoring records. They're off No. 1 at 11 a.m. with Lincoln's Ed Wyatt and York's Wally Byrne.
Omaha's Trent Morrison and Brad Dubisar are in the field again this year after missing the 2021 championship, possibly the only one they've missed in the 21 years of the Four-Ball. The 2008 Champs had finished outside the top 15, which provides an exemption to the next year's championship, the three years prior.
Several former champions are competing with different partners than they won their title with, including Minzel, Petersen, Sajevic, Ryan Knispel of Omaha, Ryan Nietfeldt of Elkhorn, Scott Tridle of Lincoln, Adam Cordes of Papillion, Chris Green of Elkhorn, Alex Farrell of Elkhorn, Jayson Brueggemann of Lincoln and Jay Muller of Omaha.
Minzel is again partnered with Moore, after the two lost in a playoff to Grandfield and Turek last year. They were tied for the first round lead and finished birdie-birdie in the final round to force a playoff, after a Grandfield eagle on the last hole catapulted him and Turek into the clubhouse lead.
John and Andy Sajevic are the most decorated team in the field. Together they hold 19 total NGA titles, and the Sajevic name is on eight different NGA trophies, including every championship open to male golfers. John has won the Four-Ball three times, but it's the only trophy Andy is eligible for that he has not won yet. The father-son duo is paired with another family affair for the first round, brothers Brett and Zach Hoffman at 10:10 a.m. off No. 10.
Is this the year that Gretna's Brian Csipkes and Bennington's William Amundsen break through? They finished runner-up in a playoff in both 2019 and 2020, then were solo-third last year, three strokes shy of the playoff. In four appearances as partners, they haven't finished worse than tied for third, and boast an impressive final round scoring average of 65.
The championship features 36-holes of stroke play over the weekend, with the Final Round scheduled for Sunday. The Players Club is hosting for the sixth time, tying the championship record held by Willow Lakes Golf Course in Bellevue. Again in 2022, the course will play as a par-70 layout and will measure 6,653 yards. The club's par-5 15th hole will play as a 442-yard par-4 for the championship. The change was made to help improve pace of play on a stretch that typically gets backed up.
Play begins Saturday with starting times off Nos. 1 and 10 from 9 - 11 a.m. Pairings for the first round are available on the championship website below, along with the scoring page and additional information.
Nebraska Four-Ball 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.
