⛳️ Kansas in Contention Heading into Final Round of NCAA Cle Elum Regional

CLE ELUM, Wash. – Junior Lily Hirst sits inside the Top 10 and Kansas sits in seventh at +22 after 36 holes of the NCAA Cle Elum Regional at Tumble Creek Club. The Jayhawks sit three shots back of fifth place with the third and final round set for Wednesday morning.

Kansas shot a 16-over round of 304 in Tuesday’s second round and was paced by rounds of 76 (+4) from all four counting scores. Hirst, Johanna Ebner, Lauren Clark and Amy DeKock were all a part of the scoring lineup.

Stanford leads the pack after the opening two rounds at -18, followed by Duke (-6), Virginia (+9), Arizona State (+15), Long Beach State (+19) and San Jose State (+19) to round out the top five of the leaderboard. The top five teams will advance to the NCAA Championship in La Costa, California, May 17-22. Kansas is just three shots back of fifth place. The top player not on an advancing team will qualify for the NCAA Championships as an individual.

“For how windy and cold it was, I thought we got off to a difficult start but we fought our way back,” said third-year Kansas head coach Lindsay Kuhle after Tuesday’s second round. “We need five players tomorrow to play with everything they have, for KU and for the National Championship. I am really proud of how we played holes 14-18 today.”

Hirst, who currently sits T7 at even par, was able to rally two birdies on her scorecard after opening the tournament with a 4-under 68 on Monday. Hirst’s 68 in the first round was the second-lowest score by a Jayhawk in the NCAA Tournament.

DeKock is next in line on the leaderboard for Kansas, currently tied for 22nd at +5. DeKock added three birdies to her card for a second-round 76, backing up her opening round of 73 (+1).

Clark posted a 76 for the second-consecutive day, sitting +8 and T36. Clark grabbed two birdies today in back-to-back fashion on holes 14 and 15.

Ebner made her Cle Elum Regional debut and posted a 76, which included four birdies all on the back nine. After making a seven on the par-three 11th, Ebner birdied four of the last five holes on the frame, making the turn at even par.

Junior Jordan Rothman shot an 83 and is in 63rd.

“It is going to take good ball striking, limiting three putts and converting easy up-and-downs in these difficult conditions,” Kuhle added. “The biggest thing we need tomorrow is five competitors showing up with confidence. If you are not confident on this golf course it can get away from you. If we have confident competitors tomorrow, I think we have a great shot at advancing.” 

THE FINAL ROUND
Kansas will tee off for the third and final round on Wednesday, May 8, at 11:55 a.m. CT and will be grouped with tournament host Washington (+23) and Sacramento State (+29). Live scoring for the third round will be available on Golfstat, while fans can also follow with live updates throughout the round from the official Kansas Women’s Golf Twitter (X) account.