99th Nebraska Women's Match Play Championship held in Columbus

COLUMBUS, Neb.-- This week, the Elks Country Club is hosting the 99th Nebraska Women’s Match Play Championship.

It’s now the third time the club has hosted the tournament.

Justin Ahrens, who is the assistant executive director for the Nebraska Golf Association, said over 50 players entered play that started on Tuesday and the tournament features two different divisions.

“We have a championship division which is basically a girls division where girls are playing each other,” said Ahrens. “We then have the tournament division which is the net division,” he added.

The championship features girls from all over the state including a player from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Megan Whittaker, who played a major role in Nebraska’s run to an appearance at the 2021 NCAA Columbus Regional, talked about how her round went on Wednesday.

“It went well,” Whittaker said. “I didn’t start off super great. I started bogey, bogey but I stayed patient and ended up making three birdies in a row,” she added.

Whittaker said she loves how the course has held up so far.

“They’ve been really good,” said Whittaker. “This course is in perfect shape. There’s not much wind. The greens are great. So, I would expect the scores to keep getting lower as the tournament progresses,” she added.

Wednesday in Columbus featured the quarterfinals and semifinals of the tournament with Thursday bringing the 18-hole final round at 8 am.

Whittaker will play fellow Husker Lindsey Thiele.