CLE ELUM, Wash. – The No. 9-seed Kansas women’s golf team finished sixth (+35) at the NCAA Cle Elum Regional at Tumble Creek Club on Wednesday, putting an end to a historic 2023-24 season.
Top seed Stanford won the Regional at -17 and had four individuals place in the Top 5. Second-seed Duke came in second at +1, followed by No. 4-seed Virginia (+12), No. 3-seed Arizona State (+21) and No. 5-seed San Jose State (+23). These five teams advanced to the NCAA Championships, which is set for May 17-22 in La Costa, California. Long Beach State’s Jasmine Leovao advanced as the individual.
Under the guidance of KU third-year head coach Lindsay Kuhle, Kansas finished in sixth place at +35 and was in contention of making the Top 5 for all three rounds. In the three-day event, the Jayhawks shot team scores of 294-304-301–899. This marked the second-consecutive year the Jayhawks have made an NCAA Regional, becoming the first team in program history to make consecutive appearances at the event.
“I am really proud of the way we fought today,” said Kuhle following the round. “It was another difficult day out there with the weather and course conditions. To finish that close and be the nine seed just shows how great this team is and how competitive we are. I am proud of the fight we put up all week.”
Kansas was led by junior Lily Hirst, who finished T13 at +5 after shooting a 77 in the final round. Hirst opened the event with a 68 in the first round and a 76 in the second round and never once dropped outside the Top 20. With the 13th-place tie, Hirst finished inside of the Top 20 on seven occasions this season. Hirst’s T13 finish at the tournament is the third-best finish by a Kansas golfer at an NCAA Regional.
“Lily was really great the first day shooting a 68,” Kuhle added. “She was in contention to advance to the championship as an individual, which was great as well.”
Sophomore Amy DeKock grabbed a top-20 finish as well, placing T19 at +7. DeKock shot rounds of 73-76-74 in her NCAA Regionals debut. DeKock competed in four events for the Jayhawks this year and finished inside the Top 20 in every event.
Junior Lauren Clark wrapped up the three-day event at +13 and tied for 39th. Clark shot rounds of 76-76-77 and her final round concluded with back-to-back birdies on the last two holes of the day.
Hanna Hawks, Johanna Ebner and Jordan Rothman each competed in two of the three tournament rounds, which results in a “no placement” in the final individual standings due to substitutions.
Hawks, the senior captain of the team, concluded her four-year collegiate career on Wednesday, leading Kansas in scoring for the day with a one-over 73 in her final round of college golf. Hawks competed in 19 events, 50.5 rounds and compiled three top-20 finishes, all which came during her senior season.
“Hanna really showed up in the final round,” said Kuhle. “To compete and play hard for KU just shows how much she loves this school and wants to leave this program in a better place.”
Kansas finished three spots higher than its selected seed number and finished better than two programs ranked above them.
“We continue to build and improve every year towards our goal of making the National Championship,” Kuhle said.
