DALLAS – Behind sophomores Johanna Ebner and Lauren Clark, Kansas women’s golf is in seventh place after Day 1 at the 2023 Big 12 Championship at the Dallas Athletic Club Friday.
In a nine-team field that features seven teams ranked in the Golfstat top 50, the No. 50 Jayhawks shot a 304 (+16). KU is two shots ahead of No. 8 Texas (306), six shots from sixth (No. 20 Iowa State) and eight from fourth (No. 13 Baylor and Oklahoma) spots. No. 34 Texas Tech leads the three-round event after shooting a 3-over 291 on Day 1. No. 23 Oklahoma State is in second at 6-over (294) and No. 40 TCU is third at 7-over (295).
“We got off to a really good start. We were one over through 13 holes as a team,” Kansas head coach Lindsay Kuhle said. “We had some great momentum and then ran into a couple difficult holes that we made some mistakes on with execution and our mental strategy. That led to some bogies and doubles. This course is tough when the wind is out of the north, at 15 miles per hour, which is was consistently today.”
Ebner led KU with a 2-over 74 that included three birdies. She played the front nine 1-under (35) with two birdies. Ebner is tied for 11th in the 45-golfer field and is one shot from the seventh and two fourth. Clark is one shot behind Ebner at 3-over (75), which is tied for 22nd. She was steady all day with one birdie and 13 pars for her round.
Graduate senior Esme Hamilton shot a 5-over 77, while super senior Abby Glynn carded a 78 (+6). Sophomore Jordan Rothman finished the day with an 81. Iowa State’s Pimkwan Chookaew leads the field shooting a 67 (-5), four shots ahead of Oklahoma State’s Maddison Hinson-Tolchard and Oklahoma’s Mikhaela Fortuna at 1-under. Only six players shot par or better on Day 1.
“We’re in a good place. We’re hitting it well. It’s just unfortunate the last five holes and how we finished,” Kuhle said. “We know we’ll come back stronger and we know we always play well the last two rounds of a tournament. We’re excited to go tackle the course first thing tomorrow morning.”
The second of three rounds will be played Saturday, April 22, with Kansas teeing off at 8 a.m. CT. The Jayhawks will be paired with Texas and Kansas State for the second round. Live scoring from the Big 12 Championship can be found here via Golfstat.com. Sunday’s final round will be will be televised on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ starting at 12:30 p.m.
