Happy Hollow Prepares to Celebrate 100th Nebraska Women's Match Play
Stroke Play Qualifying Begins Monday at Happy Hollow Club
OMAHA (May 31, 2023) - Happy Hollow Club in Omaha is set to host a celebration of the 100th Women’s Match Play Championship next week, June 5-7, with a loaded field of 87 players.
The first Nebraska Women's Match Play was conducted in 1916 at Field Club of Omaha, with Lincoln's Louise Pound taking home the inaugural trophy. Since then, 59 different champions have been crowned. The trophy has passed through generations, with two mother-daughter duos being crowned, and four junior players winning, including 15-year old Kate Strickland of Lincoln in 2019.
Action begins Monday morning with an 18-hole Stroke Play Qualifying round, after which the top 16 will advance to the championship bracket. The Round of 16 begins in the afternoon. Quarterfinals and semifinals are slated for Tuesday, and Wednesday morning brings the 18-hole championship final.
Last year's champion, Megan Whittaker of Elkhorn, is not in the field after capturing her third NebGolf title last year at Elks Country Club in Columbus. She had previously won the Nebraska Girls' Match Play Championship twice, in 2016 and 2018, and became the fourth player to complete the NebGolf women's major sweep, after winning the Nebraska Women's Amateur at Wilderness Ridge in Lincoln a couple months later.
Several individuals in the 87-player field are no strangers to success in NebGolf championships, including 2020 Nebraska Women's Match Play Champion Katie Ruge of Omaha. Two-time Nebraska Women's Amateur Champion Danica Badura of Aurora is also in the field. Badura won two consecutive Nebraska Women's Amateur titles (2020, 2021), but is looking for her first Nebraska Women's Match Play trophy. It would complete her trophy case, adding to her Nebraska Girls' Amateur and Nebraska Girls' Match Play trophies as well.
Playing alongside Badura in the qualifier are a couple of familiar names, including Wahoo's Lindsey Thiele, last year's runner-up, and Omaha's Sydney Taake, who advanced to the Semifinals last year. They are joined by Nicole Hansen of Omaha, and will tee it up at 10 a.m. off of No. 1. Like Badura, Thiele is looking for her first Nebraska Women's Match Play title, which her sister Hannah won in 2016.
Other featured players include a pair of champions from Omaha. The 2022 Nebraska Girls' Match Play Champion Kaitlyn Hanna, and Ruge, the 2022 Nebraska Girl's Amateur Champion, will tee off following Badura's group on No. 1. Along with Lincoln's Olivia Lovegrove, who is leading the 2023 NebGolf Girls' Point Standings after winning all three Nebraska Junior Golf Spring Junior Series events, as well as the 2022 NSAA Class C Girls' Championship.
Julia Karmazin of Elkhorn, the 2022 Nebraska Girls' Co-Golfer of the Year, is paired with Lauren Thiele of Wahoo, who owns two Nebraska Girls' Match Play Championships, as well as UNK golfer Allison Comer and Bellevue's Emma Mullendore.
Happy Hollow Club has hosted the Nebraska Women’s Match Play Championship 11 times before, but this will be the first time the championship returns to Happy Hollow since Omaha's Susan Marchese won her fifth in 1990. Marchese went on to win two more in 1994 and 2010, and holds the record for most Women's Match Play Championships with seven. She is competing in the Tournament Gross Division this year.
Happy Hollow will break a tie with the Field Club of Omaha for the most Women's Match Play Championships hosted with 12. The club first hosted the Women's Match Play Championship in 1917, when Gertrude Stewart won, 3 and 2, over Ella Sprague. Happy Hollow is a par-71 course measuring 6,007 yards long for this year’s championship. In addition to the championship competition, the Tournament Division will feature gross and net matches from a shorter set of tees.
Play begins with a 10 a.m. shotgun start for Monday's Stroke Play Qualifying Round. Pairings for qualifying are available on the championship website below, along with the scoring page and additional information.
Nebraska Women's 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.
