Nov. 19, 2015 WACO, Texas - Baylor women's golf head coach Jay Goble announced the signings of three student-athletes to his 2016 recruiting class on Thursday. One of the signees will enroll in January and be eligible to compete as part of the 2015-16 team, and the other two will join the program next fall.
Baylor signed Maria Vesga of Piedecueta, Colombia, to a Financial Aid Contract, and she will enroll at the semester break and immediately begin her freshman season. The Bears inked Evelyn Arguelles of Oaxtepac, Mexico, and Fiona Liddell of Ennigerloh, Germany, to National Letters of Intent, and those players will join the program as freshmen prior to the 2016-17 season.
Vesga won the 2014 Campeonato Juvenil Copa Eduardo Herrera in her native Colombia, shooting 73-73 to take the top qualifying spot before winning the championship in match play. She also won the 2014 Copa Camilo Villegas by shooting 75-72-70=217, rallying from five strokes down entering the final round.
Vesga also has tournament titles at the 2014 Campeonato Nacional de Mayores - Copa El Tiempo, the 2013 Midwest Junior Players Championship, the 2013 Copa Camilo Villegas, the 2012 Copa Arturo Calle Infantil, 2012 Abierto de Golf, the 2011 Tercera Parada Nacional Menores and the 2011 Campeonato National Infantil.
"Maria is going to join us in January, and I know she will bring a needed spark to get this team going during our championship season," Goble said. "She's played for many years on the Colombian National Team and is a fierce competitor."
Evelyn Arguelles
Arguelles advanced to the semifinals at the 2015 U.S. Girls' Junior Championship by knocking off No. 49-ranked amateur Mike Liu in the quarterfinals before falling 1-up to No. 8-ranked Angel Yin. Her performance was so impressive that a representative from the PGA of America offered her an invite to take the last spot at the prestigious 2015 Junior PGA Championship.
Arguelles claimed medalist honors at the 2014 Mexicana Campeonato Nacional Juvenil, finished as runner-up at the 2015 Mexicana Campeonato Nacional Juvenil after shooting 71-73-74=218, and finished as runner-up at the 2014 Texas State Junior Championship after shooting 66-69-71=206.
"Evelyn is a great signee, and I could not be happier to have her join the Bears in 2016," Goble said. "She brings competitiveness and an optimism that is contagious, and I love to watch her play. She played deep into the U.S. Girls' Championship this summer, and her match play experience is also great, especially now that we play nationals as a match play event."
Liddell is ranked No. 75 in the European Golf Rankings. Her tournament titles include the 2014 Scottish Girls' U18, the 2014 Optimist International U 18, the Deutsche Meisterschaft AK 16 and the 2013 Junior Honda Classic.
Liddell took third place at the 2014 Platz Honda Junior Classic, finished in 13th place at the 2015 Girls' British Open Amateur Championship, placed 10th at the 2015 ANNIKA Invitational - Europe, placed 11th at the German Girls' 2015 and finished in fifth place at the 2013 Scottish U16s.
"Fiona brings a great wealth of international competitive experience, and her potential to lead this team to great things is very high," Goble said. "She's also played on two very successful national teams. She has a Scottish father and a German mother, so she had the unique opportunity to play for the Scottish girls' team in the past and now plays for the German womens' team. These experiences will help her contribute to our team's success in the future."
Baylor has completed its 2015 fall season and begins the spring portion of the schedule on Feb. 7, when the Bears will defend their tournament title at the prestigious Northrup Grumman Regional Challenge. Follow @BaylorWGolf on Twitter for updates throughout the season.
