Kansas Athletics
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Kansas Women's Golf Coach Lindsay Kuhle, who has led the Jayhawks to back-to-back NCAA Regional appearances for the first time in program history, has signed a three-year contract extension that runs through the 2028-29 season, Director of Athletics Travis Goff announced Monday.
Kuhle has had a monumental impact on the program since arriving from the University of Denver prior to the 2021-22 season. In just three seasons at the helm, Kuhle has taken the program to back-to-back NCAA Regionals, marking just the second and third appearances in program history. It is also the first time the Jayhawks have been selected for NCAA Regional play in consecutive seasons. During this past season, Kuhle's squad carried a 289.3 stroke average, the lowest in program history and a 6.1 stroke improvement from the previous best in program history, set in 2022-23, also under Kuhle's guidance.
"Coach Kuhle has had a tremendous start to her Jayhawk career, and we couldn't be more excited about the incredible momentum of our women's golf program under her leadership," Goff said. "She has been an ideal fit for our department and she and her family have immersed themselves in the Jayhawk and Lawrence communities. The program has already hit unprecedented heights both on the course and in the classroom, and we are thrilled to have her at the helm for years to come."
Kuhle and the Jayhawks are coming off a sixth place at the NCAA Cle Elum Regional in May, which marked the second-highest finish in program history and was three spots higher than their seed (No. 9). Prior to the NCAA Tournament, Kuhle led the Jayhawks to a seventh-place finish at the 2024 Big 12 Championship with a score of 876 (+24), the lowest 54-hole total in program history at the conference championship.
"I am truly grateful for this extension and thrilled to build on our recent success in the upcoming years," Kuhle said. "I personally want to thank Travis and (sport administrator) Nicole (Corcoran) for their belief in me and this program and their unwavering support since I've been here. Our success could not be possible without them."
Kuhle continued: "Our past and current players have fully believed in our vision and goals over the past three years. It has been a delight to see their progress and watch this program continue to improve and grow. I also want to recognize Associate Head Coach Stephen Bidne for joining me at KU to help our players grow and develop. He is such a positive influence on our ladies and brings incredible enthusiasm and knowledge to our program."
Last season, Kuhle's squad smashed every team scoring record at the Wisconsin Westbrook Invitational, winning a tournament for the first time since 2017. At the event, the Jayhawks set new 18-hole (-19), 36-hole (-30) and 54-hole (-43) program records to win.
In the classroom, Kansas posted a 3.88 team grade point average (GPA) for the Fall 2023 semester, setting a new program record and leading all KU Athletics teams for the semester. For the Spring 2024 semester, the team earned a 3.78 GPA, accumulating a program-record 3.83 GPA for the 2023-24 academic year. The team placed a program-record six student-athletes on the 2024 WGCA Academic All-Scholar Team and the program earned the 2023-24 WGCA All-Scholar Team GPA Award.
Kansas finished the 2023-24 season ranked 48th in the country with a strength of schedule ranking of No. 40. The team finished with its second-best end of season ranking in modern day program history, dating back to the early 1990's.
During her second year as head coach, Kuhle took the women's golf team to the program's first NCAA Regional appearance since 2014. KU finished the season with a stroke average of 295.41, the lowest team average since 2018-19.
Every team scoring record was shattered during the 2022-23 season, including the single season record with seven team rounds of par or better.
As a team, all 11 women's golf student-athletes were named to the 2022-23 Athletic Director's Honor Roll and five players were named to the 2023 WGCA All-Scholar Team.
In her first season as head coach in 2021-22, Kuhle's team finished the season ranked No. 79 in the country by Golfstat, which was up nine spots from the average ranking the previous five seasons.
One of Kuhle's first actions was to initiate the Coach Jerry Waugh Women's Golf Endowment program, honoring the KU legendary coach and administrator. The endowment is being used to directly impact the student-athlete experience and create new opportunities for the team.
Kuhle came to Kansas after completing an eight-year head coaching stint at Denver from 2013-20. At Denver, Kuhle won seven conference team titles and the Pioneers qualified for the NCAA Tournament in each of the eight seasons where a postseason tournament was held.
Kuhle and the Jayhawks will look to make a third-straight NCAA Regional appearance during the 2024-25 season, which opens Sept. 9 at the Folds of Honor Collegiate in Michigan.