Nebraska Junior Match Play Field Set for Norfolk
Championship Begins Monday at Norfolk Country Club
NORFOLK (July 3, 2024) - The field is set for the 62nd Nebraska Girls' Match Play Championship and the 35th Nebraska Junior Match Play Championship at Norfolk Country Club, July 8-11.
The Championship will begin on Monday with an 18-hole Stroke Play Qualifier, with 30 girls competing for 16 spots and 107 boys competing for 32 spots in the match play bracket.
Two rounds of matches will be conducted on Tuesday, followed by two more on Wednesday. The girls' final is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, while the boys' final is Thursday morning.
On the girls' side, the defending champion, Naryn Kim of Lincoln, is in the field after being the youngest champion last year at just 12 years and 5 months old. On the boys' side, the defending champion, Owen Tucker of Lincoln, is in the field, looking for his second NebGolf title.
Julia Karmazin of Omaha also highlights the field, after recently securing back-to-back Nebraska Girls' Amateur titles at Awarii Dunes Golf Club in Axtell in June. Karmazin is currently leading the NebGolf Girls Point Standings, in search of a third-straight Nebraska Girls' Golfer of the Year award.
Lincoln's Olivia Lovegrove, the 2022 NSAA Class C Girls' State Champion, has had an outstanding season and is second to Karmazin in the points race. She finished runner-up at the 24th Nebraska Girls' Amateur runner-up and earned a spot in the 2024 U.S. Girls' Junior Championship through qualifying at Champions Run in Omaha. Kim, Karmazin and Lovegrove are paired together for Stroke Play Qualifying, and will tee it up at 2:20 p.m. off No. 1 on Monday.
On the boys' side, Tucker isn't the only past champion in the field, as he's joined by the 2022 champion, Jackson Benge of Omaha. Benge was the Stroke Play Qualifying medalist last year, but fell to Tucker in the Quarterfinals. He's in good form going into the championship this year again, being one of three juniors to advance to the Semifinals of the 57th Nebraska Match Play Championship last week at the Country Club of Lincoln. Benge fell to Westside teammate Trevor Gutschewski of Omaha.
Gutschewski leads the NebGolf Junior Point Standings by a slim margin over the hottest golfer in the state, Beau Petersen of Gretna. Petersen won by a stroke over Gutschewski at Awarii Dunes to claim his second-straight Nebraska Junior Amateur title last month, and then went on to defeat Gutschewski again in the Nebraska Match Play Final. Petersen became the youngest champion and first junior to win the Nebraska Match Play.
Petersen will play his qualifying round alongside Benge and Omaha's Sam Vocelka at 1:10 p.m. off no. 10. Gutschewski will be joined by the 2021 Nebraska Junior Amateur Champion Connor Steichen of Omaha, who won the NSAA Class A title this year by a stroke over him, and Lincoln's Carson Kildow, who advanced to the Quarterfinals of the Nebraska Match Play last week.
Coltrane Mittag of Ashland, 2024 Nebraska Junior Co-Golfer of the Year, is set to play in the championship. He's coming off a top 5 finish at the 46th Junior North and South Amateur at Pinehurst Resort, which he won in 2023. Mittag is paired with Tucker and Gavin Gerch of Lincoln. Gerch put together two impressive rounds last week to earn medalist honors and the No. 1 seed at the Nebraska Match Play, before falling in the Round of 16.
Norfolk Country Club hosted the Nebraska Girls' Match Play in 1976 and 1989 and will host the Nebraska Junior Match Play for the first time. The par-72 course will measure 6,839 yards for the boys and 5,815 yards for the girls.
Groupings and starting times for Monday's Stroke Play Qualifying round are available under the Pairings tab of the championship websites below.
Nebraska Girls' Match Play Championship
Nebraska Junior Match Play Championship
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.
