Improved putting and solid ball-striking helped the Nebraska golf teams finish in the top three at tournaments Tuesday.
The Husker women's team practice paid off for Charlotte Wendner, who said she has been focusing on her putting this past week. Wendner finished in a tie for fourth place with a total of 221.
"Charlotte hit the ball extremely well and hit a lot of key putts," NU coach Robin Krapfl said.
More than 20 of the first 36 holes were played in the rain, and Wendner's ability to play through the bad conditions put her in good shape, Krapfl said.
"Charlotte was mentally tough and hung in there to play great golf in those conditions," Krapfl said.
The Cornhuskers gained eight strokes on Texas Tech, the eventual champions, during the last day of the tournament by shooting a 288 to finish with a total of 894. Erin Sharpee led the Huskers charge in the final round with a 68, which moved her up into a tie for 11th.
"She just felt real comfortable today," Krapfl said. "Her putter was really working."
Natalie Gleadall and JC Stevenson finished 10th and 18th, respectively, for Nebraska. Krapfl said the team's ball-striking was excellent this week, and the Huskers are learning from their mistakes.
Wendner said Nebraska's late surge at the tournament will help the team's mentality in the future.
"Everyone came back and had more confidence," Wendner said. "We feel more confident leaving this tournament."
The Nebraska men's team also improved from their performance last week to finish tied for third at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate.
Brandon Crick was the top performer for the Huskers, finishing tied for fifth with a one-under-par 215 total.
"I got off to a bad start, but I came through in the last rounds and put up really good scores," Crick said.
Crick shot a 70 during his last round, something that was especially impressive to NU coach Bill Spangler because he did it on a championship golf course. The Classic Club in Palm Desert, Calif., was formerly the site of the PGA's Bob Hope Classic.
"The last two rounds were probably as good as he has played," Spangler said. "He is showing he is one of the best players in college golf."
The rest of the Cornhuskers finished within three stokes of each other.
Andrew Wyatt shot a 222 to tie for 23rd place. Spangler said Wyatt putted steadily and had a good overall tournament. Scott Willman finished tied for 26th, Mike Coatman finished tied for 30th and Brett Nymeyer finished tied for 36th.
Spangler said this is the third tournament this year he has felt the Huskers were good enough to win the tournament, yet mistakes have held them back.
The coach added that it was encouraging to see that the team could do so well with so many penalty strokes out-of-bounds, though.
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