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IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa senior men’s golf student-athlete Alex Schaake won the 2019 Nebraska Amateur Championship on Thursday, contested at The Country Club of Lincoln (par 72).
Schaake becomes the second individual in 111 years to win the tournament four consecutive years. The last individual to win the Nebraska Amateur four straight years was Bob Astleford, who also won his fourth straight championship at The Country Club 54 years ago.
“It feels amazing to win my fourth title in a row,” said Schaake. “This is the best amateur tournament in Nebraska and to come out on top is a huge confidence booster going into the rest of the summer.”
Schaake won a seven-hole playoff, tying the second longest in tournament history (10 holes in 1981), over Caleb Badura, who was the 2019 Nebraska Match Play champion. The 2016, 2017 and 2018 champion entered Wednesday five strokes behind the leaders, but posted a 6-under par 66 and a 1-under 71 in Thursday’s final round to rally and win the 72-hole tournament (280, 8-under).
“The playoff was mentally draining,” Schaake said. “After grinding for 18 holes in the heat, it was tough to focus, but I had to try extra hard. We were both making a lot of putts and hit some good chips to tap-in range to extend the playoff. It came down to the person who was going to make a mistake first and fortunately for me it was him. I made par and he bogeyed on the seventh playoff hole.”
Schaake won the Nebraska Amateur Championship for the first time after his senior year of high school in 2016 at the Omaha Country Club, and followed that with victories at the Beatrice Country Club and Fremont Golf Club the past two years. Schaake held the 54-hole lead in all four tournament wins.
Today’s win is Schaake’s 10th career Nebraska Golf Association title, second most all-time.
In addition to being named the 2019 Big Ten Men’s Golfer of the Year, Schaake earned the Les Bolstad Award, given to the Big Ten golfer with the lowest stroke average (70.81).
