Making history & a side of ice cream

Before last week’s career round of 63 — 8 under par — during the Marilynn Smith Sunflower Invitational at Lawrence Country Club, KU sophomore Ebba Nordstedt’s previous best outing came on one of golf’s most historic tracks.

“I played one round at St. Andrew’s, the Old Course,” the native of Sweden told R1S1 Sports a few days after tying the school record for lowest 18-hole score. “I don’t remember if I shot 7-under or 8-under, but that was definitely cool.”

Nordstedt, now 21, was just 19 at the time of that round, and she decided during our recent sit-down interview that, even if she matched the 63 by shooting 8-under at the famed course in Scotland, this recent round was, in fact, better for one key reason.

“I made bogey on the last hole there,” she said.

The recent round, which led to the first collegiate win of Nordstedt’s career, was completely bogey-free and featured 10 pars and 8 birdies, including five of the eight on the final five holes.

The round, which Nordstedt shrugged off as just one of those good days at the golf course, inspired KU coach Lindsay Kuhle to call it one of the best she had ever witnessed in 21 years of college coaching.

It also led to Nordstedt winning the tournament by six strokes and the KU team winning their home event for the second consecutive year.

That team component made both Nordstedt and Kuhle incredibly proud. But, try as she might, it’s impossible to just brush off the school-record-tying performance as a good day for the gang.

So, let’s dive into the 63 just a little more.

Nordstedt said she had no indication that day that history was coming.

“I had a good feeling and I was excited to play,” she said. “But you never know when it’s coming. It differs, like 20 shots, between your best round and your worst round every year and you never know when it’s coming. It’s just go out there and do your best every time and you see what score you shoot.”

While that might sound a little too simple, Nordstedt insists that’s the way she approaches every day in the game that has been a part of her life since birth.

The daughter of a professional golfer, Nordstedt received her first set of clubs before she even turned 1. While she never got to use them to bomb tee shots or chip onto the green, she said they’re still a big part of her history in the game.

“We have some really fun pictures of me trying to use them,” she said with a laugh.

Back to the round. Surely, Nordstedt knew at some point during the round that it was going to be a memorable day, right?

Not exactly.

“I didn’t barely even feel it after my round,” Nordstedt said. “It was just like, ‘Whoa, I shot 8-under.’”

Remember, she was only 3-under through 13, a good score to that point to be sure, but not necessarily an indicator that history was just around the corner.

That’s when Nicole Corcoran, KU’s Senior Women’s Administrator stepped into the picture on the 14th green at LCC.

Nordstedt made birdie on that hole and watched as the sophomore Swede birdied 15 and 16, too.

“I said to her on 16, ‘You don’t leave now,’” Nordstedt said with a laugh. “And she didn’t. She was with me the rest of the way. I say she was the birdie luck. And Coach Kuhle was there for all 18 holes in some way or another. That was really cool. I love when she’s around and I always tend to play better because she and I see the game the same way.”

There was nothing overly dramatic about the run of five birdies in a row to close the round and get to 8-under. Nordstedt said her longest putt in the run was 21 feet on No. 16. And she had an 18-footer on the par-3 17th right after that. Everything else she made that day was inside 10 feet and pretty routine.

“It was just everything went in,” she said. “I just stuck it close to the pin and I made a putt.”

Ho hum, ho hum. Holy cow.

If there was anything about the day that felt like a bit of destiny at play, Nordstedt said it was how comfortable she felt with her surroundings.

Her younger sister, Emilia, was in Lawrence from Sweden to watch her play. One of her best friends from back home who goes to school in Kansas City also made the trip over for her record-tying round. And she was paired with another friend from Sweden, Ebba Liljeberg, a freshman at Missouri, who played all 18 holes with Nordstedt that day.

“I think it was just a lot of different factors going together,” she said. “I’ve been putting in a lot of hard work lately and had some tough days and tough conversations, and we talked a lot about motivation and confidence going into this tournament. I was just in a good spot. I felt like there was so much support on the course. It was just fun.”

So much fun, in fact, that it wasn’t until hours later that she actually realized what she had accomplished.

Part of that was owed to the format. After a birdie on 18 to close out the Round 1 63, Nordstedt didn’t get on the phone and call home or have a dance party with teammates in the clubhouse.

Instead, she grabbed a quick drink and casually walked the 50 or so yards north to the No. 1 tee to begin Round 2 during the 36-hole marathon.

“I was definitely a little nervous when I teed off on hole No. 1 for the second round,” she recalled. “I think I was in a little bit of shock.”

So, how’d she do on hole No. 1 of Round 2?

“I made par,” she said.

That ended the birdie streak at five, but Nordstedt was well on her way to that individual title by that point.

She fired an even-par 71 in Round 2 and shot 73 in Round 3 the following day to win the tournament by 7 strokes as the only player under par.

There was, of course, a little celebrating after the first two rounds, and then again after her tourney title became official the next day.

She had to wait a while to call home to tell her parents but said they were overjoyed when they heard the news. And while they waited to make that call, Nordstedt and her younger sister celebrated on their own by picking up a little ice cream from Sylas and Maddy’s in Downtown Lawrence.

Pot of Gold — brown sugar ice cream with swirls of caramel and chunks of chocolate chip cookie dough — was the pick for the Marilynn Smith champion, which seemed oh so fitting given what the win represented in her 21-year journey in the game of golf.

But Nordstedt is definitely hoping that this latest achievement is more of the beginning than the end of the chase.

“We had some fun times celebrating afterwards,” she said. “And it was really cool because it was my first home tournament, too. Shooting low rounds like this builds confidence and motivates you to keep going and do more.”

So, how does she plan to top this in the weeks, tournaments and years to come?

“Go minus-9,” she said with a sly grin.

Nordstedt and the Jayhawks, who saw all five players finish in the Top 10 at their home event, will close out the fall season later this month with a trip to the Rainbow Wahine Invitational in Lihue, Hawaii, Oct. 20-22.

After that, it’s back to the practice grind during the winter months until the spring season opens in early February in California.

— For tickets to all KU athletic events, visit kuathletics.com