Athens Regional Tournament Notes

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

Coming off the program's first Big 12 Championship title two years ago, Baylor women's golf coach Jay Goble says his confidence level might have been a little higher going into the NCAA regional.

But, the five-person team he's sending to the NCAA Athens Regional that begins Monday at the University of Georgia Golf Course in Athens, Ga., is "head and shoulders above what it was two years ago."

"Without a doubt, we're better (players) 1 through 5," he said. "Just because we haven't had that spark yet, I honestly feel like we're right there."

Baylor, making it back to the regional tournament after a year's absence, is seeded fifth in the 18-team Athens Regional that includes third-ranked Alabama, No. 8 Georgia, 11th-ranked Northwestern and No. 14 Arizona. Rounding out the field are Wake Forest, UCF, Tennessee, North Carolina, Clemson, Augusta, Auburn, Kansas State, Michigan State, Troy, Princeton, North Florida and Quinnipiac.

The top six teams, plus the three lowest scoring individuals on non-advancing teams, will move on to the 36th annual NCAA Championships May 8-10 at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill.

"They're motivated that they don't want another fifth-place finish," said Goble, referring to the Lady Bears' disappointing fifth-place finish at last month's Big 12 Championship. "Fifth would be good enough (to advance), but you can't go out with that mindset. The mindset is we've played with Alabama and Georgia and we've hung with them, so let's go beat them, because they're beatable. They're not any more talented than we are."

Baylor's lineup includes Big 12 Championship medalist Dylan Lee, Big 12 Player of the Year Amy Lee, sophomore Maria Vesga, freshman Fiona Liddell and senior Maggie Beth Byers.

Goble went with the experience edge in Byers, whose 75.41-stroke average is a shade better than freshman Cheerie Tan (75.71). After a top-25 finish at the Ping/ASU Invitational, Tan struggled at the Big 12 Championship, finishing 41st out of 45 golfers at 22-over 238.

"I'm not doing this as a thank-you-senior thing," Goble said. "(Byers is) playing well and doing everything right and working really hard at her game. . . . If things are right in the world, then I think this is going to be her week and her postseason. I feel really good that she's going to play well."

While the team struggled at the Big 12 tournament, finishing fifth after going in as the top seed, Kim won her first collegiate medalist honor. The redshirt sophomore shot 4-under-par 68 in the closing round and 2-under 214 overall to win by three shots.

"I think the biggest difference is I played really well in tough conditions," said Kim, second on the team with a 73.17 average and seven top-25 finishes. "To get it at the Big 12 Championship meant a lot But, more importantly, it was a great springboard going into regionals, because it's the best time of the year, regionals and nationals. I'm glad I had the Big 12's to get me ready for that."

A first-year transfer from USC, where she was part of the Trojans' NCAA semifinalist team in 2015, Lee has been a phenomenal addition to the team. She is ranked 29th nationally with a 71.87 scoring average and was named Big 12 Player of the Year.

"It gives me a lot of confidence coming into a new school, a new area," said Lee, who won the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown in the fall and shared medalist honors with Vesga at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic in February. "I credit that to my teammates and my coach. They made me feel like I was right at home."

Even though she's from Los Angeles, Lee has benefitted from the change of scenery, Goble said.

"I think the distractions there, pulling her away from golf and school, were hard for her to manage," Goble said. "She's doing awesome. And the thing is, she hasn't played her best golf yet. That's the scary thing. Amy Lee is capable of being the best player in collegiate golf. She is 100 percent capable of that. And if she sets her mind to it, she'll get it."

Kim, who sat out most of last season after having a benign leg tumor removed, said this team is capable of pulling off something special like the 2015 team. That year, Baylor won the San Antonio Regional and finished as the national runner-up, falling to Stanford in the match-play final.

"I have good memories from regionals my freshman year," Kim said. "We shot (22-under-par) to win it. There's no reason why this team can't do the same thing or even better."

Although Baylor had played twice this year in Albuquerque, another regional site, Goble said he was happy the Lady Bears got sent to Athens. The top three seeds at the Albuquerque Regional are Stanford, USC and Duke, three of the last four national champions.

"Not to say that our 1, 2, 3 seeds are weak, because they're not," Goble said, "but those three are regularly in match play and all three have won national championships. I feel like we're going to a good golf course for us. It's a challenging course that in my opinion is going to knock half the field out right away. It's not hard when you're a good ball-striker and really long off the tee, like our team is."

Paired with Arizona and Wake Forest for Monday's first round, Baylor will tee off from No. 1 between 7:27 and 8:03 a.m. CDT. Live scoring is available at www.golfstat.com.

WACO, Texas -- Baylor women's golf begins 2017 NCAA Tournament play at the Athens (Ga.) Regional, which runs Monday through Wednesday at University of Georgia Golf Course.

The 54-hole tournament will be played on the par-72, 6,344-yard course. Eighteen teams compete at each of the four regional sites, and the six lowest scoring teams along with the three lowest scoring individuals not on those teams advance to the 35th-annual NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championships. The 2017 NCAA Championships are scheduled for May 19-24 at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill.

Baylor is making its fifth NCAA Tournament appearance in six seasons under head coach Jay Goble and the 15th appearance in program history. The Lady Bears are looking to advance to the NCAA Championships for a third time in the last six years (2012, 2015). Baylor's last NCAA Tournament appearance culminated in a runner-up finish, as BU fell in a 19th-hole playoff against Stanford in the national title match.

The 18-team field at the Athens Regional features No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Georgia, No. 3 Northwestern, No. 4 Arizona, No. 5 Baylor, No. 6 Wake Forest, No. 7 UCF, No. 8 Tennessee, No. 9 North Carolina, No. 10 Clemson, No. 11 Augusta, No. 12 Auburn, No. 13 Kansas State, No. 14 Michigan State, No. 15 Troy, No. 16 Princeton, No. 17 North Florida and No. 18 Quinnipiac.

Baylor's lineup is led by junior Amy Lee, who was named 2017 Big 12 Player of the Year, becoming the first Baylor player to win the league's top individual honor. She's followed by redshirt sophomore and 2017 Big 12 individual champion Dylan Kim. Sophomore Maria Vesga is in the No. 3 spot, freshman Fiona Liddell is No. 4, and senior Maggie Beth Byers returns to the lineup in the No. 5 slot after sitting out two of the last three tournaments.

Monday's first round is slated for tee times beginning at 6:30 a.m. CT from the first and 10th tees. As the No. 5 seed, Baylor is in the second trio of teams off the first tee, joining No. 4 Arizona and No. 6 Wake Forest. Byers is up first at 7:27 a.m., and she'll be followed in nine-minute intervals by Liddell, Vesga, Kim and Lee, respectively.

Live scoring will be available for each round in the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championship at www.Golfstat.com. Follow @BaylorWGolf on Twitter and Facebook for updates throughout the season.

NCAA ATHENS REGIONAL (Golfstat Ranking)
1. Alabama (No. 3)
2. Georgia (No. 8)
3. Northwestern (No. 11)
4. Arizona (No. 14)
5. Baylor (No. 19)
6. Wake Forest (No. 22)
7. UCF (No. 25)
8. Tennessee (No. 31)
9. North Carolina (No. 35)
10. Clemson (No. 39)
11. Augusta (No. 43)
12. Auburn (No. 45)
13. Kansas State (No. 51)
14. Michigan State (No. 53)
15. Troy (No. 85)
16. Princeton (No. 109)
17. North Florida (No. 134)
18. Quinnipiac (No. 210)