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Email: nebraska@pgahq.com Website: Nebraska Office: (402) 489-7760
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The Section, the PGA of America’s 18th managing entity, was founded during the second week of April, 1925 welcoming eight founding members. Today, the Nebraska PGA represents more than 340 PGA Members and Associates who strive to promote the enjoyment and growth of the game of golf across the entire State of Nebraska, western fifth of Iowa and a small portion of South Dakota including Dakota Dunes and Yankton.
“In 1916, the PGA of America was established. Nearly a decade later, our Section was born and it’s truly incredible to look back on all of the PGA Professionals that played a role into getting it off the ground and running,” said Greg Neujahr, PGA, Centennial Chairman and Director of Golf at Champions Run. “I’m proud of the success we’ve enjoyed, and I am proud of every one of our Professionals, Associates, and employees. I am confident our Section will continue the help shape the PGA of America for another 100 years. This is a great chance for us to tell our story.”
Throughout 2025, the Section will highlight its rich history, including PGA Professionals of impact, championships and more. Digital Media Director Brett Renner has worked with Omaha World Herald’s Stu Pospisil and PGA Historian Emeritus Bob Denney to bring it all to life.
Beatrice Country Club hosted the 36-Hole Nebraska Assistant PGA Professional Championship with two spots up for grabs into the national event. For the fourth straight season, Jay Cottam, PGA of Meadowlark Hills Golf Course claimed the title with a two-round total of 6-under. Cottam held off Mark Foelbaek, PGA of Country Club of Lincoln as the newly-turned Class A PGA Professional birdied three of the final four holes giving himself a shot on No. 18 tee. In heartbreaking fashion, Foelbaek’s birdie putt lipped out after an incredible roll and near-perfect line. Moments later, Cottam rolled in the clinching putt to secure his victory. Though Foelbaek fell just a stroke short at 5-under for the tournament, both players punched tickets into the 2025 Assistant PGA Professional Championship at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, FL. We would like to thank Head Professional Noah Briley and Superintendent Andy Hamilton as well as the entire Professional staff at Beatrice Country Club for hosting us. We would also like to thank Cleveland, XXIO, Rolex and the PGA Tour for helping make this event possible.
When Steve Hogan arrived at Miller Park Golf Course in 1988 on North 30th Street in Omaha, he got a firsthand view of a par-3 layout bearing scars. Acts of vandalism peppered the property. Most noticeably, there were hardly any juniors playing the course. Two years later, a chance encounter on the course became a signature Hogan moment.
“One day, I caught a couple of kids riding their bikes across the course and stopped them,” said Hogan in 2003. “They didn’t know it was a golf course. They thought it was a big park.”
Hogan took the bikes to the clubhouse as the children begged him to give them back. After reviewing the damage to the greens caused by the bikes, Hogan gave the kids a choice: he would either contact their parents to pay for the damage, or they could come back the next day to actually learn what golf was all about. Those same biking trespassers returned the next day—and began a journey in golf. They went on to attend college, become accomplished amateur players, and, as Hogan said with pride, “helped bring other kids into golf.” It was one vignette in the life of a PGA Professional who was like the uncle some youngsters yearned to have by their side—encouraging them to take the next step toward enjoying the game.
Steve Hogan left us far too soon, losing a long battle with colon cancer in November 2008. He was just 55.
What he accomplished in abundance during his life was making Miller Park an authentic home of Hogan’s Junior Golf Heroes. Call it junior golf’s peacetime adaptation of the popular World War II sitcom Hogan’s Heroes. This reality version in Omaha had no barbed wire—just open space, a thread of green fairways, a welcoming leader in Hogan, and opportunity. It’s where inner-city youngsters could enjoy a game they otherwise might never have tried. That moment of stopping cyclists across a fairway sparked the birth of a program that today serves more than 1,400 boys and girls annually across the Omaha metro area.
Hogan’s goal for his Junior Golf Heroes was to keep kids out of trouble, provide sport options beyond basketball and football, instill a true appreciation of golf, and build pride and character using his favorite phrase: “Golf as the hook.” Miller Park Golf Course was renamed Steve Hogan Golf Course in 2009, in honor of the man who was a magnet for nourishing the spirit and hopes of youngsters through golf. To arrive at that point, let’s roll back the calendar and understand more about Steven Ray Hogan Sr.
To read the full story, click here: https://nebraskapga.com/news/hogansjuniorgolfheroes/
Over the course of the summer, Nebraska Junior Golf (NJG) hosted more than 40 events for both 9 & 18-Hole Members of the junior golf organization. Presented by Mizuno Golf, NJG is excited to announced player of the year honors for all 11 divisions ahead of their season-finale NJG Tour Championships.
Boys 16+ Division Player of the Year - Lincoln's Ben Kottmeyer
Girls 16+ Division Player of the Year - Grand Island's Julia Messere
Boys 14-15 Division Player of the Year - Sutton's Myles Smith
Girls 14-15 Division Player of the Year - Lincoln's Hailey Schlegelmilch
Boys 12-13 Division Player of the Year - Lincoln's Walker Nannen
Boys 12-13 Intermediate Division Player of the Year - Beatrice's Logan Katz
Girls 12-13 Division Player of the Year - Elkhorn's Kate Hansen
Boys 9-11 Division Player of the Year - Blair's Brody Deutschman
Girls 9-11 Division Player of the Year - Lincoln's Grace Hyten
Boys 7-8 Division Player of the Year - Elkhorn's Carter Clure
Girls 7-8 Division Player of the Year - Hastings' Sophia Thiel
With their Boys & Girls 16+ player of the year honors, both Ben Kottmeyer and Julia Messere will receive the experience of a lifetime provided by Mizuno Golf. The two NJG Members will be flown out to Atlanta, GA for a full golf club and bag fitting, two rounds of golf and lodging near Johns Creek. We're excited for this new opportunity provided by Mizuno Golf, a true partner and supporter of Nebraska Junior Golf.
PGA Life Member Chris Wiemers claimed his first Nebraska Senior PGA Professional Championship title, joining the elite group of Members to have won both the Section and Senior titles. He finished with a 36-hole total of 5-under to win by seven shots. Four players finished tied at 2-over, forcing a sudden-death playoff for the remaining three spots into the national championship. On the first playoff hole, all four players hit the green in regulation. Tom Hearn was first to putt — his 20-footer missed by inches, and he tapped in for par. The next three players all converted birdies, sealing their tickets. Joining Wiemers in representing the Nebraska PGA at the 2025 Senior PGA Professional Championship at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, FL, will be PGA Life Member Bryan Hughett, Mike Antonio, PGA of Happy Hollow Club, and J.D. Brake, PGA of ArborLinks. Jim White, PGA MP, a past national champion, remains exempt and will also be in the field. We would like to thank Head Professional Noah Briley and Superintendent Andy Hamilton as well as the entire Professional staff at Beatrice Country Club for hosting us. We would also like to thank the Golf Channel, Rolex, the PGA Tour and PXG for helping make this event possible.
