Schaake joins Nebraska golf lore with third state am title

FREMONT, Neb. (July 29, 2018) – At various points in Nebraska Golf Association history, there has been a multi-year reign at the top of the state amateur. Alex Schaake is the latest golfer to do it.

Schaake, a junior at the University of Iowa, made history Sunday when he won his third consecutive Nebraska Amateur title. While there have been eight repeat winners in the history of the event, only Johnny Goodman (1929-31) and Bob Astleford (1962-67) have succeeded in winning the event in three or more consecutive years. Schaake did it with certainty, firing an opening 67 at Fremont Golf Club to take the first-round lead and never looking back.

Schaake, of Omaha, failed to break par for the first time on Sunday. He had a nine-shot lead entering the final round and had two bogeys and to birdies on his way to even-par 71. At the end of the day, he still had a nine-shot cushion.

For the week, Schaake was 13 under after rounds of 67-67-66-71. Jace Guthmiller of Lincoln was runner-up with a 4-under 280 while Ryan Nietfeldt of Elkhorn was third with 3-under 281. Aurora’s Caleb Badura finished fourth at 1 under. He was the low junior at the event.

.@alex_schaake gets back to even for the day after this 🎯 and 🐦 on the par-3 17th. 🔥🔥🔥

He can feel it. One hole to go. Nine shot lead. #NebAm pic.twitter.com/hwocVSwVeg

— #NebGolf (@NGAgolf) July 29, 2018

Next up for Schaake is the Western Amateur. He tees off for the first round at Sunset Ridge Country Club in Northfield, Ill., on Tuesday morning.