Sophomore Lyla Louderbaugh makes history with stellar showing

Talk about a team that’s absolutely stacked.

During a season in which she watched three of her teammates win five individual titles between them, KU sophomore Lyla Louderbaugh just kept improving and saved her best for the end.

This week, as the Jayhawks competed at NCAA Regionals for a school-record third straight season, Louderbaugh ripped off a monster three days at the Columbus, Ohio regional to win the individual title and lead the Jayhawks to a team title and into nationals later this month.

She becomes the first NCAA Regional champion in program history and the Jayhawks are heading to nationals for just the third time in program history, joining the 1990 and 2014 teams.

Louderbaugh, a Buffalo, Missouri native who went to Springfield Catholic High School and originally was committed to Missouri State before coming to KU, was the class of the competition pretty much from start to finish.

She led by 2 strokes after two rounds, firing a 69 on Monday and a 70 at the par-72 course on Days 1 and 2.

Rather than feeling the pressure of the view from on top, Louderbaugh kept the hammer down and dominated Day 3, shooting a 7-under-par 65 to run away with the individual title by eight strokes.

Her scorecard on Wednesday was nearly flawless. After a bogey on the 2nd, she birdied eight of the next 13 holes before cruising into the winner’s circle with pars on the 17th and 18th holes.

For the week, Louderbaugh finished with 16 birdies and 4 bogeys. All the rest were pars and she did not have a single blow-up hole.

If this were basketball, Louderbaugh’s showing would be the equivalent of the fourth or fifth option in the starting lineup going for 40 on 12-for-15 shooting from 3-point range while the rest of the opposing defense focused on trying to stop the team’s leading scorers.

With this bunch, however, there is no leading scorer. Just talent.

And the best part about it is they knew that from the beginning.

"What a day. I am so incredibly proud of the way we showed up the last two days," said KU 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."

Way back in August, when they first talked about the outlook for the 2024-25 season and their preseason ranking, this senior-laden group did not hide the fact that they believed a big season was coming.

“Everyone had a great summer and we are very deserving of the (preseason) ranking,” Louderbaugh said at the time. “I think all of us were proud to see such a high ranking and just to see that all the work we’ve put in paid off and it shows.”

The best part about it, though, was while seniors Lauren Clark, Lily Hirst and Johanna Ebner teamed with junior Amy DeKock to put up record-setting performances, Louderbaugh believed she would factor into things, as well.

No one knew then that she’d become a regional champion roughly nine months later, but her inner-confidence, drive to keep getting better and the valuable experience she gained from playing a key role on last season’s team as a true freshman put her in position to deliver a performance that will go down in KU golf history on the biggest stage there is.

And the long, crafty lefty absolutely nailed it.

Wednesday’s round was by far her best of the year, even topping the stretch on Tuesday in Round 2, when she carded three consecutive birdies and then came up with a clutch par-save on her last hole of Round 2 to keep her momentum alive.

Now, KU will take the most momentum the program has ever had into the NCAA Championship tournament, May 16-21 at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa Champions Course in Carlsbad, California.

With a roster full of talented players who can go low at any point, the goal for this bunch will be to win it all, with the seniors leading the way and Louderbaugh doing her part to aid the run.

“They’re leaving behind a great program,” she said of KU seniors Clark, Ebner, Hirst and Jordan Rothman. “And I’m excited to see where this program goes and (how it) keeps growing.”

KU scores at Regionals in Columbus, Ohio

• Lyla Louderbaugh, 204 (-12), 1st place

• Johanna Ebner, 217 (+1), 12th place

• Lauren Clark, 222 (+5), 21st place

• Ebba Nordstedt, 221 (+5), 21st place

• Amy DeKock, 226 (+10), 35th place

• Lily Hirst competed as a sub but did not factor into KU's final team score