Lincoln, NE. – Wilderness Ridge played host to Nebraska PGA’s Nelnet/Baxter Golf FORE The Troops Pro-Am, featuring 34 teams of NEPGA Professionals partnered with three Amateurs from around the state. The day brought great weather until the end of the round when horns were blown due to lightning and severe weather in the area but all in all, it was another great event in an effort to raise money for military families and college scholarships.

In the Professional-only division, Happy Hollow’s Ryan Vermeer, PGA broke out with a 65 (6-under-par) to lead a field that saw multiple players shoot red numbers. Vermeer’s lone blemish came on his final hole of the day but his round was enough to claim low-Professional honors. Finishing in second was PGA Tour Rules Official Tom Hearn, PGA at 5-under-par while Dakota Dunes’ Nick Wanderscheid, PGA finished in solo-third at 4-under-par.

The team competition featuring a two-net best-ball format finished with Sam Jonell, PGA and his Amateur partners Chris Wolf, Colby Kontor and Mike Hansen at the top of the leaderboard at 20-under-par. Jonell’s team played the par 4’s at 15-under-par which was too much for the rest of the field to handle. Their day started off hot by playing the first six holes at 7-under-par and they never looked back.

The special day also featured the 15th anniversary of the Nelnet/Baxter Golf FORE The Troops Pro-Am in an effort to raise funds for scholarships donated to military families. Since the inception of this event, it has raised over $210,000 in scholarships to Nebraska children of active military personnel serving here at home or abroad. We would also like to thank our clubhouse sponsor Bowman and Krieger Law Firm as well as our supporting sponsors Vinnie Krikac’s State Farm Insurance Agency, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Bushnell Golf and Chesterman Co. (Coca-Cola). Lastly, we want to thank General Manager Chip Cary, Head PGA Golf Professional Mike Schuchart, PGA and the entire team at Wilderness Ridge for hosting a great event.

Professional Leaderboard

1 Ryan Vermeer
2 Tom Hearn
3 Nick Wanderscheid
T4 Steve Friesen
T4 Mike Coatman
T6 Shane Zywiec
T6 Alex Carper
T6 Pete Hagen
9 Jonathan Beaver
10 Andrew Storm
T11 Sarah Pravecek
T11 TJ Loudner
T11 Brad Neunaber
T14 Nick Shanahan
T14 J. D. Brake
T16 Sam Jonell
T16 Ted DiGiacomo
T16 Tony Baranowski
T19 Brad Bailey
T19 Mike Antonio
T19 Jim White
T22 Dominick Mitchum
T22 Anthony Driscoll
T22 Jon Petersen
T22 Don Germer
T22 James Weaver
T27 Kyle Schellpeper
T27 Dakota Loudner
T29 Austin Miller
T29 Troy Harder
31 Denis Vontz
32 Jeff Porter
33 Greg Johannesen

F -6 65
F -5 66
F -4 67
F -3 68
F -3 68
F -2 69
F -2 69
F -2 69
F -1 70
F E 71
F +1 72
F +1 72
F +1 72
F +2 73
F +2 73
F +3 74
F +3 74
F +3 74
F +4 75
F +4 75
F +4 75
F +5 76
F +5 76
F +5 76
F +5 76
F +5 76
F +7 78
F +7 78
F +9 80
F +9 80
F +10 81
F +14 85
F +18 89

Team Leaderboard

1 Jonell/Wolf/Kontor/Hansen
2 Loudner/Hershberger/Hershberger
T3 Pravecek/Pence/Morgan/Watermeier
T3 Germer/Anderson/Lara/Porzelt
T5 Antonio/Collins/Eriksen/Ghilardi
T5 Zywiec/Reimmes/Reiss/Byrne
T5 Storm/Storm/Storm/Storm
T5 Coatman/Hatch/Meyer/Eckhardt
9 Mitchum/Dill/Lienemann/Manning
T10 Bailey/Bowman/Duncan/Boesiger
T10 Carper/Brown/Barclay/Ritter
T10 DiGiacomo/Cook/Modlin/Farber
T10 Vontz/Borders/Vontz/Ford
T10 Weaver/Niemi/Diehm/Liddick
T15 Vermeer/Twitt/Kula/Houghton
T15 Harder/Wessel/McEwen/Moore
T15 Hagen/Breetzke/Peterson/Danson
T18 Shanahan/Ragon/Rodgers/Smith Jr.
T18 Friesen/Peter/Christensen/Schumacher
T18 Petersen/Carsey/Walsh/Burdette
T18 Wanderscheid/Borschuk/Krause/Lacey
T18 Beaver/Krikac/Bixenmann/Roach
T18 Porter/Trusty/Hogan/Studer
T18 Neunaber/Burns/Scholz/Bortell
T25 Hearn/Metteer/Post/Post
T25 Loudner/Loudner/Mallette/Shepardson
T27 Driscoll/Taylor/Huttman/Buckley
T27 Schellpeper/Pitkin/Hansen/Consoli
T27 Baranowski/Rall/Snyder/Green
T27 White/Ballard/Tucker/Breetzke
31 Miller/Strattan/Riggins/Redlin
33 Johannesen/Walter/Hendrickson/Kildow
34 Brake/Meyer/Meyers/Huck

F -20 122
F -18 124
F -16 126
F -16 126
F -15 127
F -15 127
F -15 127
F -15 127
F -14 128
F -13 129
F -13 129
F -13 129
F -13 129
F -13 129
F -11 131
F -11 131
F -11 131
F -10 132
F -10 132
F -10 132
F -10 132
F -10 132
F -10 132
F -10 132
F -9 133
F -9 133
F -8 134
F -8 134
F -8 134
F -8 134
F -7 135
F -6 136
F E 142