18-Year-Old Leader

Lindsay Kuhle recruit Lavanya Gupta makes 6 straight birdies to vault into lead at Colorado Women’s Open; she’ll try to become 2nd amateur to claim CWO tourney title; 2-time champ Becca Huffer shares 2nd

By Gary Baines – 6/4/2026

DENVER — Lindsay Kuhle is no stranger to the low-amateur honor at the Colorado Women’s Open.

Twenty-two years ago, the young golfer from Littleton earned that title, back when she used her maiden name, Hulwick.

On Thursday, Kuhle was back at the Inspirato Colorado Women’s Open following a tall, promising 18-year-old player from New Delhi, India who has a very good chance of being the low-am in the 2026 edition of the tournament. 

In fact, Lavanya Gupta has a promising opportunity to win the overall championship, which has been accomplished by an amateur just once before, 20 years ago by Paige MacKenzie, now a prominent broadcaster on the Golf Channel.

It wasn’t just casual interest that brought Kuhle out to follow Gupta around Green Valley Ranch Golf Club. You see, as the University of Kansas women’s golf head coach, Kuhle not long ago signed Gupta to her team, with the teenager’s college career starting this fall. (Also in the pairing Kuhle followed was former KU standout Lauren Clark.

Lavanya Gupta fist-bumps her caddie after shooting 67 on Thursday.

And Thursday proved to be an eyeful regarding Gupta as she ran off six consecutive birdies en route to a 5-under 67 that gave her a two-stroke lead on two-time champion Becca Huffer of Monument and 2022 CWO winner Clariss Guce of Artesia, Calif.

“To do that on a big stage like this is pretty cool,” said Kuhle, the former longtime University of Denver women’s head coach. 

Asked what it would mean to potentially become just the second amateur in the 32 years of the Colorado Women’s Open to claim the overall title, Gupta said, “It would be a dream come true, to be honest. But I’m focusing on the process and just on my game. I’m not really thinking about winning. … But this tournament is a really great opportunity for me.”

For the record, besides Gupta going into Friday’s final round leading by two strokes in the overall competition, she’s pretty much lapping the field in the low-amateur race as she leads by seven.

Gupta has adjusted well to playing at a mile-high altitude.

This week marks Gupta’s first time competing at a mile-high altitude, but if she’s having any difficulty adjusting her yardages, it isn’t showing as she’s made 11 birdies and four bogeys through 36 holes.

“The course is really great and I like the grass on the fairways,” she said. “It feels really nice to be here.”

Said Kuhle of Gupta’s Thursday round: “It looks very easy out there. Fairway, green, hit wedges inside 10 feet every time, and putted really well. So she’s really in control of her ball-striking, but then putted really well. And I thought there were a lot of tough, tucked pins today that weren’t easy to get to. But to make six birdies in a row, I think it just shows you’re hitting it pretty well, and you’re going for these pins.”

Even though six straight birdies is very unusual for an event like the CWO, it’s not even a personal best for Gupta, who has converted seven consecutive in a tournament before.

Gupta is in the midst of a three-tournament trip to the U.S. After next week’s Southwestern Amateur in Scottsdale, Ariz., she will head back home to India before returning to America in August, just prior to the college golf season at KU.

“This is my fifth year coming to the U.S.,” she said. “It’s really great being here — all the courses are quite different from India, I would say. And the competition is great.”

Kuhle said she saw Gupta play some tournaments last summer, and Gupta subsequently reached out and showed interest, and now she’s wearing a Jayhawk cap. And considering she’s already won an event on the Indian Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour, Gupta could be a very nice addition to the roster.

Becca Huffer tries to coax a birdie attempt into the hole on Thursday.

However, Gupta may very well be put to the test on Friday with two former CWO champs closest on her heals, two behind at 5 under overall. Huffer posted a 70 on Thursday and Guce a 69. Also well within striking distance are semi-regular LPGA Tour player Dottie Ardina of Largo, Fla. (-4), defending champ Alyaa Abdulghany (-3) and 2023 winner Haylee Harford Sanchez (-3), among others.

“You know, you’ve just got to go out there and play,” Huffer said. “Hopefully, we’ll just have a nice day out there.”

At stake, in addition to the title and the trophy will be the $50,000 first prize — for the pros anyway.

Huffer figures to be a player with which to be reckoned on Friday, considering her record in the Colorado Women’s Open. The 35-year-old Littleton High School grad is the all-time leading money-winner in the history of the event ($125,218). She owns two victories (2013 and ’19), four runner-ups (including 2021 and ’23) and a third place last year.

And she has the opportunity to become the event’s first three-time champion as she and Walailak Satarak (2007 and ’08) are the only two-time winners at this point.

A Coloradan hasn’t won the CWO since Huffer (2019) and Jennifer Kupcho (2020) went back-to-back. 

“It’s always good here being in contention,” Huffer said. “I’ve left a lot of shots out there so far, so maybe I can get it together tomorrow. It’s always fun to be here and to play well.”

Huffer pitched up to close with a birdie in round 2.

Helping the cause lately for Huffer has been her putting a “broomstick” putter into play — about a month ago — for the first time in her career. Last month, that helped her shoot a 10-under 62 en route to a fifth-place finish in an Epson Tour event. In two rounds so far at the Colorado Women’s Open, Huffer has chalked up 10 birdies and five bogeys.

It’s been “much better,” she said of her putting. “I shot my personal low of 10 under. I was like, ‘I’m sold.’ I needed a change. My other putter wasn’t invoking confidence. (Confidence) is what you need to make putts out there. I think I just like having a different look at it. It’s kind of just freed my mind from being worried about putting. It’s been good mentally for me and I’ve been making a lot more putts.”

The trophies that will be presented on Friday.

Notable: The 33 players who were 6 over par or better for 36 holes made the championship cut, including Team Colorado coach Kelli McKandless of Parker (77-73). … The scoring for this year’s Colorado Women’s Open hasn’t quite been up to recent standards — at least so far. The winning 54-hole score for the six most recent CWOs is 13 under par. This year, the leader through three rounds is 7 under. … Defending champion and first-round co-leader Alyaa Abdulghany added to her highlights even though she shot a second-round 73. A day after making a hole-in-one, she holed out for eagle on the 378-yard, par-4 16th hole on Thursday. In an up-and-down round, she carded that eagle, three birdies, two bogeys and two double bogeys. … Maddy Bante of Englewood, a Notre Dame golfer who was paired the first two rounds with ND alum Becca Huffer, holds down second place in the low-am competition, albeit seven behind Lavanya Gupta. Bante has gone 72-72 to check in at even par, while Emma Bryant from GVR holds third place (72-74). … Dottie Ardina of Largo, Fla., who finished fifth in U.S. Women’s Open qualifying last month at Walnut Creek Golf Preserve, sits in fourth place at the CWO after rounds of 71-69. … Lauren (Lehigh) Dickey, a two-time girls state high school champion in Colorado, fired a 3-under-par 69 on Thursday to move into the top 10 after 36 holes. She stands at 1 under overall, in 10th place. … Five teams share the pro-am lead at 14 under par through two rounds — Oakwood Homes, KMG 18, ACME Distribution, Clubhouse Work & Golf and AIR Communities No. 2.

For all the scores from the CWO, CLICK HERE.

For Friday’s tee times, CLICK HERE.

A fox was a happy camper walking across the course on Thursday.

A frog was hiding in plain site on the ninth hole.