Nebraska Golf Association and Senior Amateur
Almost every week in the golf season, the NGA staff and a host of volunteers are running a tournament at a Nebraska golf course. These range from juniors, men’s, women’s and senior amateur championships. I can’t say enough about how well these events are run. I will give credit to the two long time NGA leaders, Craig Ames and Justin Ahrens who have been doing this for many years.
Every tournament has a host of volunteers for rules officials, spotters, scorers and college interns helping where needed. They use the NGA web site for signups, updates, scoring and social media posts via Instagram and Twitter.
I am a big fan of tournament golf especially over multiple rounds. I have played in almost all senior match play and stroke play events since I turned 50. Before that I did have a few opportunities to play in the state am and mid-am. The senior championships have rarely filled up and they have made accommodations for multi-levels of golfers. This gives a senior with a higher handicap, say in the 5-12 range, a chance to still compete and win some prize money. For example, in the Senior stroke play you can sign up for the championship and play the course from the longer tees, usually around 6700 yards. Or if over 57, you can play in one of the three age groups of 57-64, 65-71 and over 72 from different sets of tees.
The NGA staff put in many long hours, organizing flights, course set-up, pin placements, volunteers, refreshments and many things we take for granted. With starting times ranging from 8 in the morning to 2:30 in the afternoon, you know these volunteers put in a lot of long days away from home.
The 2025 Senior Am at Landmand in Homer this year was one of the most popular with 120 golfers getting the chance to play this course three days in a row with a practice round and two days of competition. By the time all the exempt players got in, there was a significant waiting list to enter. It was an awesome experience, but Landmand won, with the weather playing a huge role on the final day. See my updated write up on Landmand in the Nebraska Golf Courses section.
We had a Wednesday practice round in ideal conditions with a 5 mph breeze and temps in the low 80s. It was great for building confidence. By Friday afternoon when the leaders were grinding it out, it was sunny, 100 degrees and winds consistently gusting over 30 mph. The PCC rating (Playing Conditions Calculation) was a plus 3. As high as it gets. Hats off to Randy Christiansen, who was the only golfer in the championship division to score below 80 on the last day to win the championship with a 74.
I was fortunate to play bad enough the first day to get in the second flight in the 65-71 year old division and came in second to win some prize money. I am looking forward to the NGA’s senior match play at Fremont CC in September.
Besides the events all year, the NGA administers our Ghin handicaps and local course ratings. Visit their website at www.nebgolf.org for more detail. So Thank you to Justin, Craig and all the volunteers.
