⛳️ Kansas Posts Strong Second Round, Sits in Fourth with Final Round to Play

ORLANDO, Fla. – Three Jayhawks posted under-par scores in the second round of the UCF Challenge on Sunday, hosted at Eagle Creek Country Club in Orlando, Florida. Kansas backed up its opening round 287 (-1) with a three-under team score of 285 in the second round, currently alone in fourth place in a loaded 18-team field.

“I am really proud of the way that the team finished today after a pretty tough start”, said KU head coach Lindsay Kuhle. “We had some challenging holes into the wind on a couple of the par threes that I thought were playing long and challenging. If you look at our last 9-11 holes, I am really proud of how we finished.”

North Carolina leads the field at -17, followed by Miami (-9), Charleston (-5), Kansas (-4), Northwestern (-2) and host UCF (-2) rounding out the top five.

Kansas was led by a three-under round of 69 from junior Jordan Rothman, who picked up five birdies while shooting three under on the par fives. Rothman picked up her fourth round in the 60’s this season after opening the tournament with an even-par 72. Rothman is tied for 12th at -3.

Junior transfer Lily Hirst leads the charge for Kuhle and the Jayhawks on the leaderboard thus far, alone in seventh in a 96-player field at -5. Hirst’s second round of 71 (-1) did not start how she pictured, starting off four-over through the first six holes. That did not faze the United Kingdom native, finishing the remaining 12 holes at five-under par helped by five birdies.

Junior Johanna Ebner, who is competing as an individual for Kansas, climbed over 20 spots on the leaderboard after a two-under round of 70 on Sunday. Ebner played solid all day, posting just two bogeys that were backed up by two birdies and an eagle on the par-five 16th hole. Ebner sits in a tie for 31st at one-over par.

Freshman Lyla Louderbaugh and senior Hanna Hawks share a tied for 43rd at +3, while Louderbaugh shot an even-par 72 and Hawks added a one-over 73 for the second round. Louderbaugh picked up three birdies on the day and Hawks turned in a fairly clean card that allowed just one bogey and 17 pars on the day.

Junior Lauren Clark, the local native of Orlando, sits at T63 (+6) after a five-over round of 77. Despite a tough day for Clark, she managed to knock down a pair of birdies with an opportunity to climb the leaderboard in the final round.

“Tomorrow is a great opportunity to finish the tournament strong,” Kuhle added. “We talk a lot about giving the same amount of energy and effort from when we start to when we finish an event, so we’re looking forward to having a great finish tomorrow and put ourselves in a position to accomplish our goal.”

The third and final round is set for Monday, Feb. 5 at 7:30 a.m. CT in a shotgun start format. Live scoring for the final 18 holes is available through Golfstat.