The 2017 PGA Jones cup team consisted of Kramer Samuelson, Kyle Murray, Zach Sachen, Cordell Weber, Aaron Hart, and was coached by Scott Holly. Two additional students, Nick St. Onge and Spencer Schaulis, made the trip to Florida to support the team. Alumni James Brod and Brad Bailey, along with soon-to-be graduate, Trent Peterson, also showed up at the tournament to support the team (all are currently working in Florida).
After arriving in Florida, the seven students and Scott had the opportunity to play some of the top golf courses in the area leading up to the tournament. The first day we played Trump National Doral and visited with one of our current students, Zach Gleysteen, interning at Trump.
The second day was a long day on the course which consisted of 36 holes. A morning round at Jonathon’s Landing (Fazio Course) at Old Trail and an afternoon round just down the road at Frenchman’s Creek Beach and Country Club. We also visited with another current student interning at Frenchman’s, Nakul Paliwal.
The first day of the event was November 13th and included a practice round that allowed the team to get out and get a feel for how the golf course was going to play for the week. The Wanamaker course at PGA Village was very wet and soggy due to an extremely rainy October. Florida received two hurricanes that month and had daily rains leading up to the tournament.
On day one of the tournament, Hart got off to a hot start with a hole out on the 12th hole (his 3rd hole of the day) for an eagle which lead to a front nine 32 and an 18-hole total of even par 72. Samuelson posted a first round 73 followed by Murray's 75, Weber's 80, and Sachen's 82 that lead to a UNL record low team score of 300. This tied the team for 3rd place after the first round.
Day two greeted the players with rainy and windy conditions. After a shotgun start, everyone was pulled off the golf course for inclement weather after five holes. After a 20-minute delay, they got the go ahead and were able to continue play which only lasted about an hour before another inclement weather delay.
After the second delay, Samuelson picked up right where he left off and continued his consistent play. Samuelson shot a 1 under par for his second round posting a solid 71 which saw zero bogeys and tied for low round of the day. Samuelson said his "up and down" on hole 11 was the key to keeping his round going after the two delays. Samuelson’s two-round total of 144 was good for second place individually for the tournament. Other second round scores had Murray shooting a 77, Hart and Sachen posting 81s, and Weber firing an 82.
36 Hole Totals
Aaron Hart 72-81 (153)
Kyle Murray 75-77 (152)
Zach Sachen 82-81 (163)
Kramer Samuelson 73-71 (144 Even Par) - 2nd Place Individual
Cordell Weber 80-82 (162)
UNL saw its best finish in school history with a 7th place finish out of the 19 teams competing in this year's Jones Cup.
Congratulations Team Nebraska and a huge "Shout Out" to Kramer!
More details at: https://pgm.unl.edu