Lindsay Kuhle

Bio

Seven-time conference coach of the year and seven-time conference champion Lindsay Hulwick Kuhle was named the head women’s golf coach at the University of Kansas on July 1, 2021 by Director of Athletics Travis Goff. She enters her second season with the Jayhawks in 2022-23.

In just two seasons at Kansas, Kuhle has re-written the KU women’s golf records book in addition to many other accomplishments. In 2022-23, Kansas was an NCAA Regional at-large selection for just the second time in school history with the other time in 2014. KU would finish eighth in the 12-team field and was within five strokes from qualifying the NCAA Championship.

The Jayhawks finished the season ranked 51^st in Golfstat, which is up 28 spots from the previous season and was their second-best ever season ending ranking. Their strength of schedule ranking of No. 34 was up 18 spots from 2021-22. KU posted 10 top-10 finishes with four of those in the top five in 2022-23.

Also, in 2022-23, KU had its lowest team stroke average of 295.41 in school history, a 3.38 stroke improvement from the previous mark set in 2018-19. Kansas broke the school record for 18 holes with a 279 (-9) in its final round at the Westbrook Invitational. The Jayhawks broke the school record for 36 holes at the UCF Challenge at 566 (-10) and the 54-hole school record with an 852 (-12) the same event. KU also had the most par or better team rounds in program history in a single season with seven, as well as the lowest par 4 scoring of 4.1892 in school history and the lowest par 5 scoring average of 4.975 in program history.

In the inaugural Big 12 Match Play Championship in April 2023, KU entered the event as the No. 7 seed and dominated pool play. The Jayhawks were the No. 1 seed entering the championship bracket and defeated Baylor in the semifinals before falling the eighth-ranked Texas in the title match.

At the 2023 Big 12 Championship, senior Esme Hamilton tied for ninth becoming just the 10^th Jayhawk to earn Big 12 All-Tournament honors and the first since 2017. Collectively, individuals posted 38 rounds of par or better and, as a team, the Jayhawks defeated five teams ranked in the Golfstat top 25 last season.

As a team, Kansas recorded a program record a 3.83 grade point average (GPA) in 2022-23. It’s 3.81 fall GPA set the semester mark only to be outdone with a 3.85 in the spring semester. All 11 women’s golf student-athletes were named to the 2022-23 Athletic Director’s Honor Roll recording a 3.50 or better GPA with four posting a 4.0 GPA in the fall and six having a 4.0 in the spring. Two players – Joahanna Ebner and Abby Glynn were named to the CSC At-Large All-District Team and six will be named to the WGCA All-Scholar team posting a 3.5 GPA or better.

In her first year at Kansas, 2021-22, Kuhle’s team finished the season No. 79 in the country by Golfstat, which was up nine spots from the average ranking the past five years. KU’s strength of schedule ranked of 53rd in the country in 2021-22. Her team set a then-program record with a 54-hole total of -1 at Westbrook Invitational in the spring 2022.

Kansas set multiple records in Kuhle’s inaugural season, including the most par or better rounds at five, the low 54-hole total at -1 at the Westbrook Invitational, the best par 5 scoring average (5.05) and the lowest par 3 stroke average (3.20). Additionally, KU posted its then-second-best season-scoring average at 299.48.

Kuhle Initiated the Coach Jerry Waugh Women’s Golf Endowment program, honoring the KU legendary coach and administrator. The endowment will be used to directly impact the student-athlete experience. It will create some new and exciting experiences for the team, like hosting tournaments, transportation, trips, and playing top courses around the country.

In her first season, Kansas finished ahead of numerous ranked opponents in tournaments including No. 22 Texas Tech, No. 23 Virginia Tech, No. 29 Oregon State, No. 49 Oklahoma and No. 50 Denver. KU finished seventh at the 2022 Big 12 Championship, which ties the second-best KU finish since 2014 when the team placed fourth and ended the year ranked 38th nationally.

Not only did KU show great improvement on the course, but the Jayhawks also excelled in the classroom in Kuhle’s first season. As a team, KU posted a program record 3.74 grade point average for the year and Its 3.79 GPA in the spring was a semester program high. All 10 women’s golf student-athletes were named to the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll recording a 3.50 or better GPA with five posting a 4.0 GPA.

A veteran coach who has coached more than 35 WGCA All-America Scholars and six individual conference champions, Kuhle came to Kansas after nine winning seasons as head coach at the University of Denver.

At Denver, Kuhle won seven conference team titles and the Pioneers qualified for the NCAA Tournament in each of the eight seasons where a postseason tournament was held.

With Kuhle as head coach, Denver won 11 team titles and had 10 individual tournament victories, which included six conference championship medalists. While at DU, she was named conference coach of the year seven times, including in 2020-21, in which DU ended the year ranked No. 39 by Golfstat/Golfweek. The Pioneers ended in the top 75 of the national rankings in all nine seasons with Kuhle at the helm.

Individually, Denver had 34 all-conference performers and 32 Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) All-America Scholars with Kuhle as head coach. The Pioneers shined in the classroom, accumulating a team grade point average of 3.72 from 2015 to 2020.

Kuhle first joined the DU staff in 2005 and spent seven seasons with the program, including three as associate head coach. In 2012-13, Kuhle served as an assistant coach at Georgia before returning to DU for the 2013-14 season as the head coach.

In her 15 seasons on the DU staff, Kuhle mentored WGCA All-Americans Stephanie Sherlock and Tonje Daffinrud. Sherlock was a three-time All-American at DU from 2007-09 and Daffinrud earned the honor in 2014.

Kuhle arrived at Denver to begin her coaching career after a successful college career at Tulane, where she was an all-conference performer all four years, including a first-team selection as a sophomore. She was also named Tulane Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2005.

During her time at Tulane, Kuhle more than made her mark on the course, both for the Green Wave and individually. She qualified for three consecutive U.S. Women’s Amateur Championships from 2002-04 and finished as the low amateur at the 2004 Colorado Women’s Open.

Kuhle has been an LPGA member since 2007 and is a Class A teaching and club professional. In 2020, she was named the LPGA Teaching and Club Professional Central Coach of the Year. Kuhle also serves on the NCAA women’s golf awards committee and is a member of the NCAA Women’s Coaches Academy and a graduate of the academy in 2019.

A native of Littleton, Colorado, Kuhle earned her master’s degree in sport and performance psychology from Denver in 2014 after earning a bachelor of science in management with a concentration in finance from Tulane in 2005.

Kuhle is married to A.J. Kuhle, who is a military veteran, played for the San Antonio Spurs and took his Air Force Academy college basketball team to the NCAA Tournament his senior year in 2004. He was a former assistant coach at Air Force and DU.

The couple has a daughter, Lucy Elizabeth Kuhle, who was born in October of 2014 and son, Jordan William Kuhle, born in August of 2017.