Karmazin, Ruge Share Nebraska Girls' Golfer of the Year Award
First Co-Recipients Since 2015
OMAHA (November 14, 2022) - The Nebraska Golf Association is proud to announce the selection of Omaha’s Julia Karmazin and Katie Ruge as the 2022 Nebraska Girls’ Amateur Co-Golfers of the Year.
Karmazin, a junior at Elkhorn North High School, and Ruge, a graduate of Millard North High School, each claim their first Golfer of the Year award. Karmazin won the points race, but Ruge was close behind and picked up her second NGA title this summer.
Karmazin had a stellar year in NGA championships, most notably earning Low Junior honors at the 48th Nebraska Women's Amateur Championship at Wilderness Ridge Country Club in Lincoln. She finished fifth overall, in addition to the junior award, amongst a talented field of mostly college and junior golfers. Her second round 69 (-2) was tied for the second-lowest round of the championship.
Karmazin also finished runner-up to Ruge at the 22nd Nebraska Girls' Amateur Championship at Beatrice Country Club. She fired the only round under-par for the championship, a second round 71 (-1), and finished two strokes back of Ruge, with a 228 (+12) 54-hole total. Another solid performance came at the 60th Nebraska Girls' Match Play Championship at Platteview Golf Club in Bellevue, where Karmazin earned co-medalist honors and the No. 1 seed with a round of 77 (+5). She won two matches before falling to Ruge, 7 and 5, in the Semifinals.
In the 99th Nebraska Women's Match Play Championship at Elks Country Club in Columbus, Karmazin was the No. 6 seed and fell in the Round of 16 to Papillion's Sydney Taake, 2 and 1. She also finished third at the 2022 Nebraska Junior PGA Championship and won the 2021 NSAA Class B Individual Title, which counts in this year's point standings.
Ruge captured her second NGA trophy, to go along with her 2020 Nebraska Women's Match Play title, by winning the Nebraska Girls' Amateur in July. She posted rounds of 78 (+6), 72 (E) and 76 (+4) to win by two strokes over Karmazin, with a 226 (+10) total. It was the first 54-hole contest in the championship's history, and Ruge rose to the top.
It was nearly a junior sweep for Ruge, who advanced to the Final of the Nebraska Girls' Match Play Championship with the win over Karmazin. There she faced Omaha's Kaitlyn Hanna, and after a back-and-forth battle, Hanna pulled away for a 3-and-2 win, leaving Ruge as the runner-up.
Ruge also advanced to the Round of 16 at the Nebraska Women's Match Play, falling to Husker golfer Kirsten Baete of Beatrice. She finished runner-up at the Nebraska Junior PGA Championship, won a NJG Spring Junior Series event and was fourth at the NSAA Class A Girls Golf Championship.
Karmazin and Ruge will be honored at the Nebraska Golf Association's annual awards banquet on Friday, December 2 at The Field Club of Omaha. In addition, the NGA will recognize its Amateur Golfer of the Year, Women’s Amateur Golfer of the Year, Junior Amateur Golfer of the Year and Senior Amateur Golfer of the Year.
For more on the award, link below.
About the NGA
The Nebraska Golf Association, founded in 1966, is comprised of all members of public and private clubs and/or municipal or regional golf associations which utilize an approved handicap service recognized by the USGA and provided by the NGA. Our mission is to uphold and promote the game of golf and its values to all golfers in Nebraska. Among the duties of the Association include governance of member clubs and service as their handicapping and course rating authority, conduct of state golf championships, local USGA qualifying & other notable competitions, promotion of junior golf, presentation of worthwhile educational programs and support of allied golf organizations in Nebraska. The Nebraska Golf Association is an Allied Golf Association of the USGA and carries out core services including Handicap Administration and Oversight, Course Rating, Rules of Golf and Rules of Amateur Status, Tournaments and USGA Championship Qualifiers and USGA Initiatives and Community Programs.
