The Tribune

AMY DeKock led Kansas with a 2-under-par 70 yesterday and teammate Lily Hirst birdied two of her last three holes to lead the Jayhawks to a come-from-behind win at the weather-shortened White Sands Bahamas NCAA Women’s Golf Invitational at the Ocean Club Golf Course.

Kansas overtook Purdue, which led by five strokes after the first round. 

The Boilermakers still led by three strokes with just a few holes to play before Kansas’ furious rally took hold. Kansas finished at 15-over-par 158, two strokes in front of Purdue, after trailing by 11 strokes after the first round.

“Our team is good, and we enjoy the chase,” said DeKock, a junior from Palm Desert, California. “I am so proud of this team. This is the first time we have won three consecutive times in school history.”

Meanwhile, Natashia Kiel of Purdue carded a 1-over-par 73 yesterday over the par 72, 6,385-yard layout that was good enough to share medallist honours at -2 with Chantal El Chaib of Georgia, who had the day’s best round of 4-under 68. 

Purdue finished at 17-over-par 160 as a team, while Baylor finished third at +19. Texas A&M was fourth, at +23, followed by Missouri (+26), Georgia (+32), Xavier (+38), College of Charleston (+40), Coastal Carolina (+41) and Abilene Christian (+45). The 10-team event was shortened to 36 holes due to inclement weather on Friday. 

Kansas’ comeback was fuelled by DeKock, but Hirst helped the cause with a big finish, capped by a birdie from eight feet on the fourth hole, her last of the day. “I’m from England, so I’d be playing in this windy weather if I were home, except that it would be freezing cold,” said Hirst, who posted a 1-under 71 on Sunday. “You know what they say, ‘When it’s breezy, swing easy.’”

DeKock and Hirst were supported by Lyla Louderbaugh of Buffalo, Missouri, who posted a +4 total, and Lauren Clark of Orlando, Florida, who finished at +5. 

Louderbaugh and Clark shot even par for the final round, giving Kansas a second-day total of -3, 10 strokes better than what Purdue posted to lead after day one. 

“I told the team that anything is possible if we finish well,” said a happy Lindsay Kuhle, who is in her fourth season as head coach of the Jayhawks. “We were tied with two holes to go. We had to believe and take advantage of the opportunity.”

Kiel and El Chaib were the only two players to finish under par through two days of constant winds that measured a steady 18 miles per hour yesterday. This was the fifth year of the event, which was begun in 2019.