⛳️ Kansas Concludes Opening Round of PING/ASU Invitational

PHOENIX – The Kansas women’s golf team wrapped up the opening round of the PING/ASU Invitational on Thursday, shooting a team score of 296 (+8) at Papago Golf Club. The Jayhawks sit in 15th place with 36 holes to play.

Tournament host Arizona State leads the loaded 17-team field at -7, followed by Stanford (-5), UCLA (-4), Northwestern (-4) and California (-3) to round out the top five of the leaderboard.

“This course played tough today with firm greens, but we struck it well and had some good opportunities,” said head coach Lindsay Kuhle. “We just need more consistency from the entire team over the next two days.”

The Jayhawks were led by junior Lily Hirst, who carded two birdies and two bogeys to post an opening-round 72 (E). Hirst is T28 and four strokes back of the four-way individual lead. Despite allowing two bogeys on the back nine, Hirst posted a two-under 34 on the front, which put her in position to lead Kansas for the day.

Senior captain Hanna Hawks was next in line in scoring for Kansas, posting a one-over round of 73 after notching four birdies and five bogeys. Hawks sits in a tie for 40th.

Junior Lauren Clark sits T53 at +2 after opening the event with a round of 74. Clark parred 14 holes for the round, which included a stretch of 10-straight to close out her day.

“We had three good scores today from Lily, Hanna and Lauren,” Kuhle added. “I am really happy for those three with their consistency off the tee, their approach shots and the confidence with the putter today.”

Johanna Ebner, who is competing as an individual for Kansas, posted a three-over 75 and sits tied for 61st. Co-captain Jordan Rothman shot a five-over 77 and finished day one T75.

Lyla Louderbaugh stands T89 at +9.

“You can get hot and make some putts out here if you set yourself up in a good location,” said Kuhle. “I’m looking forward to the next two days of competition from our ladies.”

Kansas will tee it up for the second round of the tournament on Friday, with tee times beginning at 10:50 a.m. CT. Fans can follow along with live scoring provided by Golfstat.