Whittaker Completes Sweep at Nebraska Women's Amateur
Final Round Conducted Wednesday at Wilderness Ridge Country Club
LINCOLN (August 3, 2022) - Megan Whittaker of Elkhorn held off teammates and other collegiate golfers in the Final Round of the 48th Nebraska Women's Amateur Championship on Wednesday to take home the crown at Wilderness Ridge Country Club in Lincoln.
Whittaker completes the major sweep, adding the Nebraska Women's Amateur title to her Nebraska Women's Match Play title earlier this year. She's the first to do so since Wahoo's Hannah Thiele accomplished the feat in 2016. It was a final round 74 (+3) for Whittaker, who won by two strokes with a 213 (E) total.
It was a rocky start to Whittaker's round, as she bogeyed the second hole. She bounced right back with a birdie on No. 3, but a double bogey on No. 7 would leave her 2-over at the turn, and with a disappearing lead.
Going into the turn with a one-stroke lead, Whittaker again struggled out of the gate, recording a bogey on No. 11. She found her rhythm and started throwing darts after that, with three-consecutive approach shots getting within 10 feet of the hole. Whittaker would birdie No. 15, and a closing bogey led her to first round over-par, but the two-stroke win. Whittaker was the only player in the field to have two rounds under par, shooting 70 (-1) and 69 (-2) in her first two rounds.
Allison Comer, a UNK golfer, came out firing, recording a flawless front nine, with two birdies and no bogeys to go into the turn only one back from Whittaker. The tough back nine at Wilderness Ridge would get the best of her, and despite two birdies, double-bogeys on Nos. 11 and 13 would lead to a 74 (+3) finish for Comer to shoot a 54-hole total of 218 (+5).
Wahoo's Haley Thiele came into the final round three strokes behind the lead, and one bogey and eight pars put her just two strokes back going into the turn. Thiele would not record a birdie until No. 16, and not before carding two more bogeys, finishing with a 73 (+2) and overtaking Comer for runner-up, finishing at 215 (+2) overall.
Omaha Maverick Sydney Taake of Papillion in fourth, shooting her lowest score on Wednesday, a 71 (E), which also tied for the lowest round of the day.
Omaha's Julia Karmazin, who had an 11-stroke improvement from the first round to the second round (80-69), finished with another solid round, a 74 (+3), to finish at 223 (+10) in fifth. Karmazin also earned Low Junior honors, by two strokes.
Husker teammates Lindsey Thiele and Miu Takashi would both finish in the top 10, Thiele finishing tied for sixth with Carrie Bostar of Lincoln at 224 (+11), and Takashi tied for 10th with Omaha's Emily Karmazin at 232 (+19).
Future Iowa Hawkeye and reigning Nebraska Girl's Match Play Champion Kaitlyn Hanna finished eighth, shooting 225 (+12). Defending back-to-back champion Danica Badura of Aurora would finish in ninth, with a 229 (+16) total.
In the Tournament Division there were three flights. Shelley Liddick of Bellevue won Flight 1, shooting 158 (+16) over 36 holes. Flight 2 was won by Jill Pilkington of Lincoln, who carded 166 (+24), and the Flight 3 crown went to Grand Island's Emily Schimbeno with a 168 (+26).
Final Results and and more can be found at the championship website below.
Nebraska Women's 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.
