photo by: Kansas Athletics

Kansas women's golf coach Lindsay Kuhle

The Kansas women’s golf team is headed back to the postseason looking to make some noise and perhaps even earn a second straight regional title.

The Jayhawks are the No. 7 seed in the 12-team field and will be in action beginning May 11 at University of Michigan Golf Course in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This is KU’s fourth straight regional bid.

“It’s just always super exciting,” head coach Lindsay Kuhle said in a press release. “It’s what we work the entire year for; to have a chance to compete for a national championship. We’re beyond ecstatic, excited, and ready to go. I wish we could go tomorrow.”

Last year, KU went to Columbus, Ohio, as a No. 4 seed and emerged with both its first ever team title in a regional, when it had never done better than a tie for fifth, and an individual title for Lyla Louderbaugh, when no single Jayhawk had ever finished higher than a tie for ninth.

The top five teams from each regional, as well as the top individual from a team that does not advance in a given regional, will move on to the NCAA National Championship, which is again taking place at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California, beginning on May 22. Last season’s Jayhawks finished 21st after three rounds and missed the first cut at the national tournament.

This season’s team was No. 38 in the national rankings as of Tuesday and is coming off a ninth-place finish at the Big 12 Championship in Dallas. KU has not had quite as decorated of a campaign to this point as it did last season, although the Jayhawks have still experienced plenty of highlights.

Even before the year began, Louderbaugh, now a junior, reached the semifinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur with a remarkable run that included an upset win over No. 1-ranked Kiara Romero of Oregon. In the fall, senior Amy DeKock tied for an individual title at the Jayhawk Invitational, and KU took the team title and sophomore Ebba Nordstedt earned first place at the Marilynn Smith Sunflower Invitational. Then Louderbaugh won an individual title of her own in March as the Jayhawks finished second at the Yale West Invitational in La Quinta, California.

During the regular season (excluding the Big 12 Championship), Louderbaugh, Nordstedt and DeKock led the way for KU with averages of 72.1, 72.2 and 73.1, respectively. In-state freshman Kinslea Jones (74.3) and senior Anna Wallin (74.5) are among the Jayhawks’ other top contributors.

The remaining teams competing in Ann Arbor, in seed order, include national No. 2 USC, No. 10 Duke, No. 14 UCF, No. 23 Oklahoma, No. 29 Ohio State, No. 32 Northwestern, No. 48 Texas Tech, UNLV, Columbia, Quinnipiac and Oakland.

“It’s a championship course,” Kuhle said. “Obviously, it’s northern golf where it can play a little bit longer, be a little bit colder and wet. I actually played this course 25 years ago. So I remember it, and it’s a ball striker’s course. I always appreciate the opportunity to go play a championship course like that, because I feel like our team is really a great ball striking team.”