Kansas, Louderbaugh Win Columbus Regional; Jayhawks Advance to First NCAA Championship Since 2014

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Kansas women's golf team is headed to the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2014 after capturing the NCAA Columbus Regional title on Wednesday at OSU Golf Club, the first regional championship win in program history.

Battling cold and rainy conditions all week, the Jayhawks secured the win by three shots and were led by sophomore Lyla Louderbaugh, who became the first player in program history to earn medalist honors at an NCAA Regional Championship.

The tournament win marks the first collegiate individual title for Louderbaugh, who fired a final round, career-low 65 (-7) to win the event by eight shots. After an early bogey on the second hole, Louderbaugh kept a clean scorecard and rolled in eight birdies the rest of the way. She stayed under par all week, posting rounds of 69-70-65 to finish at -12 with a career-low 54-hole total of 204.

"What a day. I am so incredibly proud of the way we showed up the last two days," said head coach Lindsay Kuhle. "We have been visualizing this all year and I think a lot of it is us believing we could do this. We have depth on this team where any player can win. To have six team wins and five individual wins on the year is incredible. Hats off to Lyla shooting 65, with Johanna (Ebner) and Ebba (Nordstedt) coming through with big time performances on a championship course."

In Wednesday's final round, the Jayhawks fired a tournament-low round of 276 (-12) to jump two spots and win the event by three shots. Kansas' team scores of 289-293-276-858 (-6) were enough to secure the first NCAA Regional team title in program history.

This marks just the third NCAA Championship appearance for the Jayhawks, with the previous trips coming in 1990 and 2014. It's also only the second time Kansas has advanced through regional qualifying, as NCAA Regionals were first introduced in 1993. In 1990, the Jayhawks earned their spot at the NCAA Championship by winning the Big Eight Tournament and receiving an invitation to compete in the championship.

Senior Johanna Ebner was another key contributor to Kansas' dominant final round, firing a 5-under 67 that included seven birdies. Ebner earned a tie for 12th, finishing the tournament at 1-over par.

In her NCAA Regional debut, freshman Ebba Nordstedt posted rounds of 77-74-70 to finish tied for 21st at +5. Her final round featured four birdies and a clean scorecard through 14 holes, before carding bogeys on the 15th and 18th.

Senior Lauren Clark also tied for 21st, finishing 5-over for the tournament with rounds of 72-75-74, including a final-round 74 (+2) on Wednesday.

Junior Amy DeKock rounded out the Jayhawks' lineup with a final-round 74 (+2), finishing tied for 38th at +10 overall after rounds of 72-80-74.

"I couldn't be prouder of this group," Kuhle added. "Everyone contributed and made a difference this week. Our finish at the Big 12 Championship was a huge motivator for us. We had a competitive week of practice that prepared our ladies for this moment. I'm so grateful for this group and how much they care about each other. We're so fortunate to have this opportunity to compete for KU at the highest level."

TEAM LEADERBOARD
1. KANSAS (-6)
2. Arkansas (-3)
3. Ohio State (+1) - host
4. UNLV (+4)
5. LSU (+18)
cut line (top five teams advanced to NCAA Championship)
6. Houston (+22)
7. Kent State (+25)
8. SMU (+26)
9. Illinois (+27)
10. Xaver (+29)
11. Illinois State (+58)
12. Oakland (+78)

KANSAS INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS
1. Louderbaugh (-12)
T12. Ebner (+1)
T21. Nordstedt (+5)
T21. Clark (+5)
T35. DeKock (+10)

UP NEXT
After finishing in the top five at the Columbus Regional, the Jayhawks are headed to Carlsbad, California, for their third NCAA Championship appearance in program history, taking place May 16-21 at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa's Champions Course.

University of Kansas Athletics

Kansas, Louderbaugh Win Columbus Regional; Jayhawks Advance to First NCAA Championship Since 2014

Players Mentioned

Lauren Clark

Amy DeKock

Johanna Ebner

Lyla Louderbaugh

Ebba Nordstedt

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