ATHENS, Ga. – Kansas sophomore Johanna Ebner shot an even-par 72 to lead Kansas on the first day of the 2023 NCAA Women’s Golf Athens Regional at the UGA Golf Course in Athens, Georgia, Monday.
As a team, Kansas shot a 300 (+12) and is tied for eighth out of 12 teams. More importantly, with two more rounds to play, the Jayhawks are five shots from the fifth spot. There are six NCAA Regionals with 12 teams in each. The top five teams from the regional will qualify for the NCAA Championship, May 19-24, at the Grayhawk Golf Club, in Scottsdale, Arizona. Additionally, the low individual not from a top-five finishing team from each regional will also advance to the NCAA Championship.
Host Georgia leads the field after shooting a 9-under 279 in its opening round. Ohio State is nine shots back, carding an even-par 288. South Carolina is third at 1-over (289), while San Jose State and Maryland are tied for fourth at 7-over (295). Ole Miss (+9) and Furman (+9) are tied for sixth followed by Kansas and Kent State at +12.
Ebner birdied her last three holes to finish the back nine at 2-under. She posted four birdies for her round and is tied for 13th in the 66-golfer field. KU super senior Abby Glynn is one shot behind Ebner at 1-over (73) after carding an even par on the front nine and three birdies on the day. Glynn is tied for 20th. After a sluggish front nine, sophomore Jordan Rothman posted a 1-over on the back nine and 77 (+5) for her round. Graduate senior Esme Hamilton and sophomore Lauren Clark each shot a 78 to round out the KU scores.
“We had a solid start today,” Kansas head coach Lindsay Kuhle said. “It was really great that Johanna ended with three birdies and shot even par, and Abby shooting a 73 really helped the team. We had five players all around the same score, so that was a positive as well. I think we all can say that we left some strokes out there and we are excited to play tomorrow. Overall, we stroked the ball really well and putted well. Our short game was good. I think we can clean up a few areas where we made bogie. We need a few more par and birdie opportunities to get into the hunt of the top five.”
Georgia’s Jenny Bae and LoraLie Cowart, along with Furman’s Annas Morgan each shot 3-under (69) to lead the field.
Live scoring for the 2023 NCAA Athens Regional will be via Goltstat.com and can be found here.
