Hanna Grinds Out Nebraska Girls' Amateur Title
BEATRICE (July 31, 2019) – Omaha’s Kaitlyn Hanna battled through difficult conditions during the final round of the 19th Nebraska Girls’ Amateur Championship at Beatrice Country Club on Wednesday to close out her first title.
Hanna, the 2018 NSAA Class A Co-champion, entered the final round with a five-stroke lead and saw that lead shrink to just a couple strokes, but that would be the closest anyone came. She never lost her lead and went on to win by four strokes with a 151 (+7) total, after a final round 79 (+7). Hanna held the first-round lead in 2018, but couldn’t close out the win. Redemption arrived today, as she made clutch pars down the back nine to preserve, and even stretch her lead with sustained winds above 25 mph.
Future teammates at the University of South Dakota, Danica Badura of Aurora and Jalea Culliver of Omaha played with Hanna in the final group, and both made runs at the lead. Badura was first, making birdie on the par-4 second hole and playing her first four holes in even-par. Hanna played her first four in 4-over, and her lead was down to just one stroke. However, she would steady herself with pars on Nos. 6 and 7, picking up strokes on both Badura and Culliver. Then, Hanna made just one bogey on a difficult back nine, posting a 37 (+1) coming in to seal the win.
Badura struggled after the hot start, playing the rest of the front nine in 5-over. She rebounded on the back nine to match Hanna’s 37 (+1), and a birdie on the 243-yard par-4 17th pulled her within four strokes and gave her runner-up honors for the second time this summer. Her final round 78 (+6) was the low round of the day and gave her a 155 (+11) total. Badura also finished runner-up at the Nebraska Women’s Amateur Championship in June.
Culliver played the front nine in 39 (+3) and pulled within two strokes of Hanna. She hit a tough stretch on the back nine in the wind though, and after a par on No. 10, didn’t make another one until No. 17. Culliver finished fourth with a 160 (+16) total, after a final round 83 (+11). Bellevue’s Emma Mullendore posted one of the three rounds under 80 during the final round to move into third place. Mullendore was eight strokes back of Hanna at 159 (+8).
Brynn Sundquist of Lincoln finished fifth with a 163 (+19) total, while Emily Karmazin of Omaha was sixth at 168 (+24). Nicole Kolbas of Lincoln and Katie Ruge of Omaha tied for seventh at 169 (+25). Emily Krzyzanowski of Scottsbluff finished with a 170 (+26) total in ninth place. Gering’s Madi Schlaepfer rounded out the top 10 at 171 (+27) in 10th.
Full results and more can be found on the championship website below.
Nebraska Girls' Amateur 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.
