Early evaluations of Kansas Athletic Director Travis Goff’s coaching hires

Lindsay Kuhle (Women’s Golf)

Goff’s second hire at KU came in the form of women’s golf head coach Lindsay Kuhle.

Kuhle joined the Jayhawks in July 2021 after a nine-year stint as head coach at the University of Denver.

She and her squads posted winning records each of her nine seasons at the helm, and they won seven conference titles. Her Denver teams also qualified for the NCAA Tournament in each of the eight seasons when a postseason tournament was held (one impacted due to COVID).

That success translated almost immediately to Kansas as she made her impact felt early in her first season.

The Jayhawks finished No. 79 in the country (according to Golfstat) that season, up nine spots from the program’s average ranking the past five years. The team also set numerous records in her first season, including the most par or better rounds at five, the best par 5 scoring average (5.05), and the lowest par 3 stroke average (3.20).

KU also posted its second-best season-scoring average in program history at 299.48.

This year, Kuhle took the Jayhawks to new heights as the team reached the NCAA Regionals for just the second time ever in school history. (The last appearance came in 2014.)

The team also broke the 54-hole school record with an 852 (-12) at the UCF Challenge in February and broke the school record for 18 holes with a 279 (-9) in its final round at the Westbrook Invitational on Feb. 27.

KU finished the year ranked No. 51 on Golfstat – an improvement of 28 spots from the previous season.

I don’t think you can ask much more than what Kuhle has given in her first two years.

The team still has room for improvement obviously, especially when it comes to conference play, but things are trending up for this program under Kuhle’s guidance. Thus far, it’s safe to say this was a tremendous hire by Goff.