Women’s Golf Earns No. 3 Seed in Baton Rouge Regional

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Considering that all of its school-record six tournament titles have come in either Texas or Oklahoma, Baylor women's golf should be right at home playing in the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional.
            At 12^th in this week's Golfstat rankings, the Bears are the No. 3 seed in the 18-team regional at LSU's University Club in Baton Rouge, La., with the selections for the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championship released Wednesday on the Golf Channel.
            "For this team, we feel really good in our little central United States wheelhouse," said Baylor coach Jay Goble, whose team added a third-place finish at last week's Big 12 Championship in The Woodlands after winning tournament titles in Norman and Stillwater, Okla., and Austin, Dallas and Humble, Texas.
            "I would say that the course at LSU is going to feel more like a Texas course than if we were going to Ohio State or Stanford. The grasses will be similar to what we're used to, the weather is going to be similar to what we're used to. And I believe all of that plays into our hands. Because of how comfortable our team is in this area, we're going to the right place for us."
            Top-seeded and fourth-ranked LSU will host the 54-hole tournament May 10-12 at its par-72 home course, with the top six teams from each of four regionals advancing to the NCAA Championship May 21-26 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. Besides LSU, the other regional hosts are Ohio State, Stanford and Louisville.
            This is Baylor's 18^th NCAA Regional berth (all since 2000), with the Bears trying to make it to the NCAA Championship for the fourth time in the last seven years, the fifth time under Goble and sixth time overall.
In 2018, they survived a stomach virus the night before the final round of the Austin Regional and ended up just missing qualifying for match play at nationals, tying for eighth and losing to Arizona in a sudden-death playoff
            "I think anytime you're one of the top seeds, it's exciting," Goble said. "For us to be the 3 seed, that should put us with LSU and (fifth-ranked) Ole Miss, most likely, in the first round. There's nothing wrong with being paired with the home team that's going to know how to play that golf course well and is probably going to be the pace setter out there, in my opinion. And we deserve that. Six wins and some of the great scores we've shot, I believe this team deserves to be one of the top seeds at a regional."
            The field includes three other top-25 teams – with No. 13 Oregon, 19^th-ranked Maryland and No. 21 Alabama seeded fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively. Other teams in the regional include Oregon State, Houston, Miami, North Texas, Purdue, Mississippi State, Tulsa, Sam Houston, Kennesaw State, East Tennessee, Jacksonville State and Quinnipiac.
            After winning its first five tournaments, Baylor didn't fare as well in Columbia, S.C, Saddleback, Ariz., and Phoenix. But, returning to their comfort zone, the Bears won the Lone Star Invitational in Houston and third behind No. 6 Oklahoma State and 23^rd-ranked Texas Tech at the Big 12 Championship in The Woodlands.
            "We just need to go out there and play our game, not get ahead of ourselves and take care of business," Goble said. "I feel really confident in this crew. They were chomping at the bit to get out and practice today."
            All five Baylor players have single-season stroke averages that would rank in the top 10 in program history, with senior Gurleen Kaur (71.83), freshman Britta Snyder (71.97) and senior Elodie Chapelet (72.06) at first, second and third, respectively, freshman Rosie Belsham ninth (72.70) and freshman Hannah Karg (72.73) 10^th.
            "We joke about it, but as the season goes along, Gurleen plays better and better," Goble said of Kaur, who finished third at the Big 12 tournament after placing fourth at the Lone Star Invitational. "With school being done next week, I think it's going to be great for her to have this time to only concentrate on golf and to prepare for this tournament and the rest of the season."
            While there is a three-week gap between the Big 12 tournament and the regional, Snyder made it to the Round of 16 at the USGA Four-Ball and will be joined by Belsham, Chapelet and Kaur at a U.S. Open qualifying tournament in Houston this weekend.
            "The great thing about this group is their motivation to be the best they can be. That's why they are so good," Goble said. "They're not slowing down or stopping their competition, they're ramping it up. I think we'll start where we left off."
            Live scoring for the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional will be available at www.GolfStat.com.

WACO, Texas – Baylor women's golf earned the No. 3 seed at the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional during the 2021 NCAA Women's Golf Selection Show on Golf Channel Wednesday afternoon. The three-day tournament will be played May 10-12 at LSU's University Club.

The Bears will be appearing in an NCAA Tournament for the eighth time out of nine possible tournaments during head coach Jay Goble's tenure. The 2020 tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Bears were a No. 8 seed in the East Lansing (Mich.) Regional in the 2019 event. This marks the 18^th NCAA Regional berth in program history, all since 2000.

LSU will host the 54-hole tournament on a par-72, 6,247-yard course at University Club. The top six teams at each of the four Regional sites will advance to the 2021 NCAA Championship, which will be held May 21-26 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. Additional NCAA Regionals will be played May 10-12 at Ohio State University Golf Club Scarlet Course in Columbus, Ohio, University of Louisville Golf Club in Simpsonville, Ky. and Stanford Golf Course in Stanford, Calif.

Baylor has advanced through Regionals to the NCAA Championship in three of the last five tournaments, earning Championship berths in 2015, 2017 and 2018, and the Bears recorded top-10 national finishes in each of those three seasons. Baylor advanced to match play and finished as national runner-up in 2015 at The Concession, the Bears again advanced to match play and finished tied for fifth place in 2017 at Rich Harvest Farms, and BU fell in a playoff for the final match play berth on its way to a tie for eighth place in the 2018 NCAA Championship at Karsten Creek.

The Baton Rouge Regional features an 18-team field – No. 1 seed LSU, No. 2 Ole Miss, No. 3 Baylor, No. 4 Oregon, No. 5 Maryland, No. 6 Alabama, No. 7 Oregon State, No. 8 Houston, No. 9 Miami (Fla.), No. 10 North Texas, No. 11 Purdue, No. 12 Mississippi State, No. 13 Tulsa, No. 14 Sam Houston State, No. 15 Kennesaw State, No. 16 East Tennessee State, No. 17 Jacksonville State and No. 18 Quinnipiac.

Baylor has faced 10 teams in the Baton Rouge Regional during the 2020-21 season, going a combined 11-6 against those opponents – LSU (1-1), Ole Miss (0-1), Oregon (0-1), Alabama (0-1), Oregon State (0-1), Houston (1-1), North Texas (5-0), Purdue (1-0), Mississippi State (1-0) and Tulsa (2-0).

Baylor won a school-record six tournament titles and claimed the first No. 1 national ranking in program history during the 2020-21 regular season. All five members of the Baylor lineup currently hold stroke averages which rank among the top-10 single-season marks in program history. Gurleen Kaur's current 71.83 would break the Baylor single-season record, while Britta Snyder ranks No. 2 on the single-season list with a 71.97 mark, Elodie Chapelet ranks third at 72.06, Rosie Belsham is ninth at 72.70 and Hannah Karg is 10^th at 72.73.

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

NCAA BATON ROUGE REGIONAL (Golfstat Ranking)
1. LSU (No. 4)
2. Ole Miss (No. 5)
3. Baylor (No. 15)
4. Oregon (No. 12)
5. Maryland (No. 19)
6. Alabama (No. 20)
7. Oregon State (No. 29)
8. Houston (No. 24)
9. Miami, Fla. (No. 37)
10. North Texas (No. 32)
11. Purdue (No. 42)
12. Mississippi State (No. 44)
13. Tulsa (No. 49)
14. Sam Houston State (No. 52)
15. Kennesaw State (No. 68)
16. East Tennessee State (No. 78)
17. Jacksonville State (No. 105)
18. Quinnipiac (No. 199)

Women’s Golf Earns No. 3 Seed in Baton Rouge Regional

Players Mentioned

Rosie Belsham

Elodie Chapelet

Hannah Karg

Gurleen Kaur

Britta Snyder

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