Sports
PAGE 8 __ -Tuesday, September 14,1999
_ . Lane Hickenbottom/DN
NU GOLFER Sarah Sasse watches her approach shot fly Monday during the Big 12 Preview tournament in Lincoln. Sasse led the Huskers, shooting rounds of 71 and 75.
Nebraska women lead, men learn _
Hole-in-om highlights day for NU Huskers drop after second round i
By Lindsay Grieser
StaffWriter
Nebraska Women’s Golf Coach Robin Krapfl
wasn’t anywhere near the 12th hole when she
heard the screams of joy.
“I heard the screams and all I thought was,
man I hope that was for someone on our team,”
Krapfl said.
Luckily for Krapfl, it was.
Comhusker junior Amy Roux made her first
ever hole-in-one in the first round of the Big 12
Preview on Monday at the Lincoln Country Chib.
“It was my first one ever,” Roux said. “And
what a good time to do it in - a tournament. I was
a little nervous that it would shake me up too
much and throw off the rest of my game, but I
played OK.”
Roux and the rest of the Huskers played more
than just ‘OK.’ Nebraska finished the day in first
place with a team total of 601 strokes after the
first two rounds of the 54-hole tournament. NU
shot 11 strokes better than second-place
Oklahoma State. , ~
“Oklahoma State has an outstanding team,
but I think on this golf course we can play at their
level,” Krapfl said.
Oklahoma ended the day in third place with a
team total of 618. Baylor and Missouri were tied
for fourth at 629.
«
I was a little nervous
that it would
shake me up”
Amy Roux
NU golfer
Husker sophomore Sarah Sasse fired 71-75
fora total of 146,NU’s best for the day. Sasse said
she was excited to start off the first round with a
birdie.
‘To start off on the right foot is really impor
tant,” Sasse said. “Basically, the first 18,1 missed
some putts, I made some putts. On the second 18,
I shot even on the front nine, and on the back nine
I think I was getting tired and had a little bit of
mental and physical fatigue; I kind of lost control
at the end.”
But overall, Krapfl said she was pleased with
the way Sasse played.
“Sarah’s just been playing great,” Krapfl said.
‘To come up here and play with the Big 12 play
er of the year and to fire the numbers she shot, it
just shows what hard work can do. She’s really put
*
Please see HOLE on 9
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■ Following a fourth-place first
round, Nebraska shoots a 305 to
fall to sixth in the invitational.
By Brian Christopherson
Staff writer
Nebraska’s two freshmen golfers, Rob Arthur
and J J. Sullivan, may not know where the library
is yet, but they found the fairway with regularity
in the opening round of the Fairway Club
Invitational.
The Comhuskers posted a team total of 300
after one round, putting them in fourth place, five
strokes behind first-place Kansas at Firethom
Golf Club.
The excitement was toned down in the after
noon when Nebraska fired a team total 305, send
ing the Huskers down the ladder to sixth place.
Sullivan and Arthur each fired a 76 in the sec
ond round, putting them in a five-way tie for 11th
place individually.
Kansas took control of the tournament in die
second round behind the play of Ryan Vemeer.
The Millard South graduate shot a 68 and 67 to
pace the Jayhawks, who hold a team lead of 14
strokes over second-place Missouri.
Vemeer holds a six-shot lead in the individual
race.
Nebraska’s first-day showing was impressive
when you factor in the inexperience of the team,
Nebraska Golf Coach Larry Romjue said. The
Husker lineup includes four freshmen.
“I was pleased with how we handled the pres
sure in the first round of a tournament in those
conditions,” Romjue said. “I thought we’d be
about in the middle of the pack with such inexpe
rience. Some of the other teams have older players
who have played at this level before.”
The real winner may have been the golf
course. Scores soared in the 80s, and the windy
conditions wreaked havoc all day long.
“This is as tough a course as we will play in
competition all year long,” Romjue said. “The
degree of difficulty, especiially with how windy it
was, is as hard as the course we played at the
national tournament last year.”
That was no more apparent than at hole 12.
The par-four hole played to an average of almost
bogey from the 60-golfer field.
But the course is not the only tough competi
tion. Five of the 11 teams in the tournament qual
ified for nationals last year.
‘This is a decent field, and this is only the first
year of this tournament,” Romjue said. “I think it
will get even better as we establish this tourna
ment in the coming years.”
Romjue said he is hoping his team will come
ready to play well in today’s final round.
- “We passed around the mistakes (in the first
two rounds),” Romjue said. “We need to eliminate
those mistakes to finish well in the standings ”
Walker expected to return to game action
By Samuel McKewon
Senior staff writer
One of Nebraska football’s most
exciting players from 1998 is expect
ed to make his season debut Saturday
against Southern Mississippi.
Rover and kick returner Joe
Walker said Monday he will likely
play against the Golden Eagles,
although he doesn’t know where the
NU coaches will put him on defense
or whether or not he’ll return kicks.
“That’s up to them,” said Walker,
who sat out die first two games with
an injured left knee. “My goal is to go
out and get stronger every day. We’ll
see how strong the leg is.”
Walker had been rehabilitating
his left knee after he tore the anterior
cruciate ligament in the Holiday
Bowl. On Monday, Walker said his
knee was “around 90 percent.”
The junior from Arlington, Texas,
started the first six games at rover last
t
season as Mike Brown filled in for an
injured Clint Finley at free safety.
Walker finished with 50 tackles and
five tackles for loss.
Where Walker really shined,
though, was in the return game,
where he earned second-team All-Big
12 honors for his efforts. Last season,
Walker returned 17 kickoffs for 366
yards (a 21.5-yard average) and
returned 25 punts for 283 yards (an
11.3-yard average) He returned both
a kickoff and a punt for touchdown
last season.
Head Coach Frank Solich said
Walker had been practicing since last
week in light workouts and donned
the pads a few times to see how the
knee functioned. Solich didn’t guar
antee Walker would play but didn’t
rule it out.
“There is a chance he will play,”
Solich said. “Joe’s trying to get
through the practices. Maybe it’ll
take two more weeks.”
What Solich had little doubt
about, though, was Walker’s ability to
create big plays. Because of the
Comhuskers’ injury policy, Walker
will retain his starting job at returner
when the coaches feel he’s ready for
it, Solich said.
“It was evident as Joe played last
season that as a special teams player,
he was special,” Solich said. “He can
help the team in a lot of ways.”
Please see WALKER on 9
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