Kansas Wins Third Straight Marilynn Smith Sunflower Invitational

Monday, October 5

Lawrence, Kan.

University of Kansas

Marilynn Smith Sunflower Invitational

Live Scoring

Kansas Wins Third Straight Marilynn Smith Sunflower Invitational

10/6/2026 3:45:00 PM | Women's Golf

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LAWRENCE, Kan. - Kansas defended its team title at the 27th Marilynn Smith Invitational at Lawrence Country Club for the third year in a row on Tuesday, wrapping up a three-round outing at 858 (+6), the second-lowest 54-hole score in tournament history.

KU's 2026 title marks the 10th time the Jayhawks have won the Marilynn Smith. This year, KU was powered by a 276 (-8) in round one, the second-lowest team round in tournament history. The Jayhawks were paced by junior Ebba Nordstedt, who followed up her individual victory in 2025 with a 213 (E) score and second-place finish.

"I'm very proud of these ladies. I think there's a lot of pressure and expectations to host at home. Every year you have people and family from all over the world coming into town to watch you play, I think that adds some expectations and pressure but our ladies got off to a great start in the first round shooting eight under," Kansas head coach Lindsay Kuhle said. "I think they set the tone early."

Kuhle added, "We have high goals. Every year at this tournament we want to win obviously, but we really want to win in dominant fashion and that was our goal this week. We wanted to keep the foot on the gas and continue to play aggressive, confident golf. We started the season that way at the Folds of Honor. We did that during the last round of the Red Sky Classic, and we did all three rounds at the Marilynn Smith. I'm proud of that, because that was our goal."

The victory is the first of the season for Kansas, and the 20th of Kuhle's coaching career, nine of which have come with the Jayhawks.

"I think the trajectory of our program is going to continue to get better. We're going to continue to attract the best players in the world and be a national championship contender," Kuhle said. "When you prove that at home and have players that want to win individually and win for their team, I think you're only going to see the program improve. It's super special and we work really hard and we prepare really hard to know hole locations and know every shot we can have out here. I believe it's all in hard work and preparation."

Delaware (881, +29) and California (883, +31) joined Kansas on the podium, while UC-Davis (897, +45) and Longwood (910, +58) closed out the top five.

A shot behind Nordstedt was sophomore Kinslea Jones, who led into round three of the tournament. Jones' tie-third finish is the highest of the season for her, and the first top-10 finish of her year through three events.

Fifth-year Anna Wallin, who collected a career-high fifth-place finish at 213 (+4), placed three back of Nordstedt for the podium. The Marilynn Smith marked her first top-10 of the season, beating out a season-high 12th at the Folds of Honor Collegiate.

Joining Jones, Nordstedt and Wallin in the top 10 was freshman Hannah Hall, who tallied an even-par second round and wrapped up the week in sixth, her highest career finish and first career collegiate top-10.

Senior Lyla Louderbaugh finished in a tie for 16th. She tallied a 68 (-3) in the opening round, carding nine birdies in her fourth time at the Marilynn Smith.

"With Kinslea's 65 and Lyla's 68, I think about how much depth we have," Kuhle said in regard to KU's opening round. "It's a total team effort. We have five players contributing in a three round tournament. To have Ebba step up and shoot 69, Hannah played very solid with 72s the first two rounds, Lyla's 68, Anna was very solid all three rounds and Kinslea's 65. I think we're a really good team and when we get all five players going I think we're a top 10 program in the country."

The Kansas B team ended the tournament in eighth in the 14-team field, three shots behind seventh-place Central Arkansas at 916 (+64). The Kansas B team was led by Elizabeth Wilson, who finished in a tie for 10th at 224 (+11), her first collegiate top-10.

Behind Wilson, Zoe Pinillos posted a 228 (+15) to finish tied for 24th. Marieke Ebens (232, +19), Lavanya Gupta (234, +21) and Amanda Gyllner (237, +24) finished within 11 spots of each other at T-39th, 45th and 50th respectively.

UP NEXT
The Jayhawks will travel west to Stanford, California Oct. 16-18 for the Play For Her Invitational hosted by Stanford. Fans can follow along with live scoring on Scoreboard, or view live updates on the KU Women's Golf X account.

Marilynn Smith Team Win Graphic