NU women’s golf’s Neisen finishes 2nd overall, team places 5th

Golf's a peculiar game. One minute you can be golfing like a pro then the next minute your game resembles something similar to John Van de Velde's disastrous finish at the 1999 British Open.

Such was the case for the NU women's golf team.

On a warm Tuesday in San Antonio, Texas, Steffi Neisen shined in Nebraska's final tournament of the fall. She helped guide the Nebraska women's golf team to a fifth-place finish at the Alamo Invitational.

What turned out to be a great day for Neisen wasn't particularly the case for the team as a whole.

After Monday's second round, the Huskers were ranked first overall, had broken the all-time school record for lowest round total and had three players ranked in the top 10.

Not bad for a pool that consisted of six of the nation's top-50 teams.

Tuesday's third round, however, was a completely different story. A few unbalanced performances by the younger team members and one extremely rare performance by senior Madeleine Sheils proved to be enough to dethrone Monday's top team.

"I think we were just trying too hard," said coach Robin Krapfl. "We just need to learn how to be in that position."

Learning from Tuesday's woes could be quite useful for future tournaments, seeing as the younger, more inexperienced Husker golfers suffered the worst results of the tournament.

True freshman Shelby Martinek shot a frustrating 17-over-par 89, while sophomore Katelyn Wright posted a 10-over-par 82. The normally dependable Madeleine Sheils recorded a rare 12-over-par 84.

"It's just a different type of pressure for you, being the No. 1 team," Krapfl said. "The girls wanted to win so bad that they put too much pressure on themselves. Madeleine is obviously disappointed."

Don't let one bad round fool you, though. Sheils has been consistent all year for the Huskers. The senior from Boise, Idaho earned two Big Ten Golfer of the Week awards, placed first overall at the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational and has had three top-10 overall finishes this year.

Although Tuesday didn't go according to plan for the Huskers, there were some bright spots in the performance.

For starters, Kayla Knopik shot a 3-over-par 75. After recording her career best performance on Monday, the senior from Papillion finished the tournament ranked 13th overall.