Grosshans cards final round at state meet

Heavy rains and a stiff field of competition gave Aurora senior Luke Grosshans everything he could handle last week at Monument Shadows Golf Course in Gering, though a day after carding his final round as a Husky he was putting it all in perspective.
Grosshans struggled in heavy rain on opening day, finishing with an 89, but finished strong on Day 2 with seven pars on the back nine to come home with an 81. He finished in 53rd place with a two-day total of 170, 26 over par.
“Golf is my favorite sport and I liked how I ended it, going to state with my friends and my coaches,” Grosshans said. “To make it back to state my senior year was a big accomplishment.”
Walking off the 18th green at the B-1 District meet the week prior at Firethorn, Grosshans thought his season was over. As it turned out he qualified as a wildcard, taking the last spot in the field.
“Some kid missed a putt on 18,” he recalled. “I had no clue that was going to be a competing factor, but the next day I heard about it. Had he made that putt, I wouldn’t have gone.”
Once Grosshans was announced as a state qualifier, coach Craig Badura made plans for a boys golf trip out west, with two younger members of this year’s team — Landon Danhauer and Cash Garrett — joining Grosshans and the coaches. The group played Bayside near Ogallala en route, with Grosshans then playing a practice round the day before the two-day tournament began.
The forecast in Gering was favorable, but just as Grosshans was teeing off on Day 1 the rain began to fall.
“It was kind of sprinkling until we got to maybe hole four or so and then it started pouring down rain,” Grosshans recalled. “I was not prepared for it at all, so I was literally in shorts and a t-shirt just trying to push through it and make my way.”
The Huskies’ No. 1 golfer parred the second and fifth holes, then birdied No. 9 after sticking his approach shot inside three feet. Trouble was looming on the back side, however, as the rain continued to fall. Grosshans posted four double bogeys on the back side before parring two of the final three.
“Nobody really played how they wanted to from the other schools, but it was still pretty fun,” he said.
The weather improved on the second day, May 29, and so too did Grosshans’ score and confidence.
“I played pretty good the second day, though I still had a couple double bogeys, but I think some of that was because of my first round where it got in my head as kind of a mindset,” he said of a round that included 11 pars. “Overall, it was really fun.”
Elkhorn North junior Andrew Niedtfeldt won the individual title. He and York junior Jaxson Hinze both posted two-day totals of 141, with Niedtfeldt claiming the gold medal on the first playoff hole. Elkhorn North also won the team championship, with a 605 score, 12 strokes ahead of runner-up Norris.

Coach’s perspective
Aurora coach Craig Badura was pleased to see another Husky in the state tournament field, noting that 18 individuals have teed it up at state since 1973.
“Luke had a great career and it’s quite an accomplishment to be a two-time state qualifier,” he said, recalling Grosshans appearance last year in the Class B event at nearby Scottsbluff Country Club. “Unfortunately, he had a really bad day and didn’t handle the weather very well. It poured pretty good on us for about seven holes and he just couldn’t scratch many pars together there.”
Badura said the policy for state golf tournaments is to play on as long as there isn’t any lightning in the sky, which there wasn’t that day in Gering.
“We just had to be prepared to play in it, and unfortunately we didn’t perform well,” he observed. “That’s just part of golf. You’ve got to play with the elements, and that’s why golf is so hard. Unfortunately, it was a bad first day, but you know we put up a decent score on Thursday. Overall it was a good experience.”
Badura credited Grosshans for his improvement while carrying a Husky bag, and for his senior leadership this year.
“Luke had a really good experience for us the last two years of his Husky golf career,” he said. “It’s just really neat to see how he progressed from being a little freshman shooting over 100 to how he’s playing as a senior. He had a great career for us.”

Young Husky team
Now that the 2025 golf season is in the bag, Badura reflected on not only Grosshans success down the stretch, but also the growth and improvement in his young team.
“We’ve made some good progress with our younger kids that have stepped up in the program, and obviously Luke was a good senior leader for us,” he said. “We shot some of our best scores this year since 2017 (Aurora’s state championship season), so we’re headed in the right direction and I feel like we’ve got a great nucleus coming back.”
Included in that nucleus are Ryan Staehr, Landon Danhauer, Mason Howland and Cash Garrett, along with newcomers Carter Howland and Eli Grosshans.
“We’ve got some younger kids that are pretty addicted to the game and I know they’re going to play a lot of golf,” he said. “We kind of stress that jump, that the more you play the easier the game will get as you get a little older.”
Badura noted that the competition amongst junior golfers has improved considerably in recent years, due in part to the number of events hosted by the Nebraska Junior Golf Tour.
“We shot 316 this year at Awarii Dunes,” he said. “Three years ago at Awarii Dunes we shot 330 and got second, so that’s just a testament to the level and quality of golf right now in Nebraska.”
Badura pointed to this year’s Class B state medalists for further proof, noting that six of the top 16 finishers were freshman and sophomores.
“The Nebraska Junior Golf Tour is just doing phenomenal things and giving them lots of competition opportunities right now, so kids have got to play a lot of golf,” he said. “Out of all the sports, golf is probably the most technique-based sport that you’re going to play, so you’ve got to spend time getting a lot of reps, getting practice rounds and opportunities to compete, putting yourself in that situation.”
That’s one of the reasons two younger members of this year’s team were invited to make the trip out west, Badura explained, hoping to give them a taste of what state golf is all about.
“It’s good to have them get a little itch, to see what it’s like to play on the big stage,” he said. “Like I’ve said before, for kids to excel in our program you have to be able to get thrown to the wolves in districts that first year to experience was competitive golf is like. So it was good for Cash and Landon to tag along with us and kind of just really feel the nerves of what it’s like at state golf that first day, and even on day two. It’s just a different beast, a different level of pressure that the kids aren’t really used to when they are playing competitive golf.”
Badura concluded by noting that the Huskies were able to host three events this year at Poco Creek Golf Course, after a three-year period playing away from home while the Aurora course was being refurbished.
“We hosted three events this year and that was fun having a dual, a triangular and the Duskie (a unique dual format with the Huskies and York Dukes) at Poco this year,” he said. “We just appreciate everybody who came out to support the kids.”

Class B State Golf
1. Andrew Nietfeldt, Elkhorn North, 70-71 — 141; 2. Jaxson Hinze, York, 73-68 — 141; 3. William Barth, Gretna East, 76-68 — 144; T4. Grey Klucas, Waverly, 73-75 — 148; T4. Grady Friedrichsen, Elkhart, 74-74 — 148; T6. Karter Negus, 77-73 — 150; T6. Kaden Ellis, Elkhorn North, 77-73 — 150; 8. Reid Loop, McCook, 78-73 — 151; T9. Brendan Underwood, Adams Central, 74-79 — 153; T9. Tyler Nietfeldt, Elkhorn North, 78-75 — 153.
Team scores: Elkhorn North, 605; Norris, 617; Lincoln Pius, 625; Bennington, 636; Scottsbluff, 628; Elkhorn, 632; Waverly, 642; McCook, 643; Adams Central, 643; Mount Michael Benedictine, 661; Lincoln Christian, 678; York, 678.