May 16, 2002
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Baylor's men's golf team shot a first round 292 Thursday and stands tied for eighth place at the NCAA Central Regional at the Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock, Ark.
The Bears are currently five strokes off the pace of leader Oklahoma State at 287, and one stroke ahead of the 10-team cutoff for advancement to the NCAA Championship finals. The top 10 teams from each of three regionals will advance to the NCAA finals to be held May 29 through June 1 at the Scarlet Course in Columbus, Ohio.
Junior Jamie McLeary led Baylor Thursday by shooting a one-under-par 71 and stands tied for 13th individually. Sophomore Adam Meyer and freshman Ryan Baca each shot even-par 72s in the first round and are tied at 24th.
Rounding out the Baylor scoring was freshman Derek Abel, who shot a five-over 77 Thursday and is tied for 84th place. Sophomore Will Doughtie carded a six-over 78 and is 96th.
The regional continues with an 18-hole second round to start at 7:10 a.m. CST Friday. A final round is scheduled to begin at 7:10 a.m. Saturday. Pleasant Valley is a 7,103-yard, par 72 golf course.
The Bears are making their fifth consecutive appearance in the NCAA regionals, their highest finish as a team was in 2000 when the team placed 10th. Individually, Baylor's best performance came from Jimmy Walker who finished tied for fifth individually last season as a senior.
Baylor has finished in the top five in 10 straight tournaments.
1 Oklahoma State 287T2 Kansas 289T2 Oklahoma 289T2 TCU 2895 Purdue 290T6 SMU 291T6 Toledo 291T8 Alabama 292T8 Baylor 29210 Illinois 293T11 Colorado 294T11 North Carolina St. 294T13 Tulsa 296T13 Virginia Tech 296T15 Missouri 298T15 Northwestern 29817 Maryland 29918 Louisiana State 30119 Texas-Arlington 30320 Houston 30421 Lamar 30622 St. John's 30823 Austin Peay 313T24 Arkansas State 314T24 Princeton 31426 Army 31927 Jackson State 337
