No. 16 WGOLF Runs Away with Stillwater Regional

Wednesday, May 11

Stillwater, Okla.

Baylor

NCAA Regionals

No. 16 WGOLF Runs Away with Stillwater Regional

5/11/2022 5:41:00 PM | Women's Golf

Final Round Stats (PDF)

BU captures second regional title in program history

By: Matt Roberts

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            STILLWATER, Okla. – Baylor might have been 350 miles away from Waco and playing at Karsten Creek Golf Club for the first time in 19 months. But somehow, the Bears actually felt like they had the home-course advantage.
            Running away from a field that featured three other top 20 teams, including Oklahoma State playing on its home course, the 17^th-ranked Baylor women shot even-par 288 in Wednesday's closing round and won the NCAA Stillwater Regional by 14 shots with a 54-hole total of 1-over 865.
            "I think this is the biggest win in program history, to be honest with you," said Baylor coach Jay Goble, whose team won its first postseason tournament since the 2015 San Antonio Regional. "I think coming here and beating this field the way we did, at one of our biggest rival's home golf course, I can't think of a better way to win a regional."
            The Bears earned their second-straight and seventh berth overall in the NCAA Championship, which will be held May 20-25 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. Last year, they finished 14^th on the same course.
            "I've got an awesome feeling about next week," Goble said. "I really feel that we're trending in the right direction, and I think our team is walking around with swagger and confidence that's different than it's been the whole year. And we're peaking at the right time, which is what we want."
            Sophomores Rosie Belsham and Britta Snyder had matching rounds of 1-under 71 and finished in a tie for second with teammate Gurleen Kaur at 2-under 214, two shots behind medalist Maddison Hinson-Tolchard of Oklahoma State.
            Kaur, who tied for seventh at the 2018 NCAA Championship on this same course, eagled the par-5 18^th for the second time in three days to follow up Tuesday's 5-under 67 with an even-par 72.
            "Not that it totally expected, because she hasn't been playing super great recently, but I knew that she was going to come in here with a good feeling. She has really good vibes here and played well here in '18."
            With Belsham recording her second eagle and Snyder a birdie on the 18^th, the Bears shot 5-under on the last hole and 6-under on the back nine after opening with a 6-over on the front nine.
            "I wasn't too concerned about our starts," Goble said, "because I knew there were some par-5's that were going to be downwind and there were going to be some opportunities to score. Yeah, it was a little concerning to see the starts, but I knew there were birdies out there. So, as soon as we warmed up, we would be fine."
            Even with a 13-shot lead going into the final round, and 18 strokes above the cut line for a top-four finish, Goble said he didn't allow himself to be comfortable until "maybe on 17 today."
            "The thing that makes this golf course really great is that you are challenged from shot No. 1 until the last shot you hit. You're not done until you're done out here," he said. "I tried to stay really intentional with that, with my message to the team. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, we still have another good round to play. I was trying to live by that same message. Honestly, I didn't look at a leaderboard the whole week. I just knew that we had to take care of what was right in front of us. And that's what I focused on."
            Notching her career-best finish, Belsham led the field in par-5 scoring average (4.33), tied for the third-most birdies (11) and recorded her third-consecutive round of par or better. Snyder made a pair of crucial up-and-down par saves at Nos. 16 and 17 and matched her career-best finish to give the Bears three in the top four.
            "Britta and Rosie, they played amazing this week," Goble said. "Even if they did make a bogey or a double bogey at some point, they bounced back with an eagle or they bounced back with some birdies. This golf course is going to challenge you all day long, and you have to hit good golf shots all day. But, if you're playing well and you stay patient, you can sneak some birdies out of there, too."
            Grad transfer Addie Baggarly shot 2-under over the last eight holes and recorded a 2-over 74 for a top-20 finish at 7-over 223. Junior Hannah Karg tied for 35^th with a 5-over 77 on Wednesday and 16-over 232 for the week.
            "We're definitely trending in the right direction," Goble said. "Last year, we really were kind of trending the other way. When we went to nationals, we were starting to not play our best golf. And the cool thing about this year is we absolutely, 100% p;laying our best golf right now."
            Arizona State finished second at 15-over 879, while Auburn shot 12-under 276 in the closing round and moved up three spots to a tie for third at 17-over 881. Nineteen of the top 20 teams advanced to the NCAA Championship, with the Big 12 represented by Baylor, 13^th-ranked Texas and No. 33 TCU.

STILLWATER, Okla. – Baylor women's golf tied its fifth-largest margin of victory in the Jay Goble era winning the Stillwater Regional on Wednesday by 14 shots with a three-day total of 1-over 865 for its first regional title since 2015.

The 865 is the second-best 54-hole women's score in Karsten Creek history. Three BU golfers finished tied for second, marking the first time in program history three Baylor players finished in the top-five in an NCAA postseason event.

Rosie Belsham shot a third-consecutive round at par or better with a 1-under 71 to secure a tie for second. The sophomore started her round with six-straight pars before a bogey at No. 7. She rebounded with birdies at Nos. 9 and 10 to dip into red figures and would stay there through 13 holes. Belsham played the next three holes at two over with a bogey at 14, birdie at 15 and double bogey at 16. But she would close strong with an eagle at No. 18 for the second time in three days to notch the best finish of her career.

Fellow sophomore Britta Snyder matched her career-best finish with a tie for second as well thanks to a 1-under 71, her second round at par or better this week. With an early bogey on the card, Snyder responded with a pair of birdies at No. 4 and No. 9 to finish the opening nine in red figures with a 1-under 35. She made a bogey at No. 13 but followed that up with four-straight pars, including a pair of crucial up-and-downs at Nos. 16 and 17 before closing out with a birdie at No. 18 for a second time in three days.

Gurleen Kaur followed up a second-round 67 with an even-par 72 in the final round to finish in a tie for 2^nd, her best finish in an NCAA postseason event. Her previous best also came at Karsten Creek, when she tied for seventh at the 2018 NCAA Championship. Kaur started with two bogeys and a double on the front side en route to a 4-over 40, but for the second time in as many days, she carded a bogey-free back nine. Two birdies and an eagle at the 18^th pulled her into a share of second place with her two teammates.

Addie Baggarly battled her way to a tie for 19^th with a 2-over 74 on Wednesday. After three bogeys on the front nine at Nos. 2, 6 and 7, Baggarly was three over through nine holes. A bogey at the 10^th dropped her to 4-over on the day, but birdies at Nos. 11 and 14 on the inward half helped Baylor be one of just two teams with four players to finish inside the top-20.

Hannah Karg came home in a tie for 35^th with a 5-over 77 on Wednesday. The junior shot a 4-over 40 on the opening nine with five bogeys and one birdie, but closed with a 1-over 37 on the back nine.

Arizona State finished in second place with a 15-over 879, while Oklahoma State and Auburn tied for third to clinch the final two spots into the NCAA Championship with a 17-over 881.

HIGHLIGHTS

865 is Baylor's second-best 54-hole postseason score in program history, bested only by their 842 en route to winning the San Antonio regional in 2015.
Wednesday's 288 tied for the ninth-best postseason round in program history.
Wednesday's score also tied for the ninth-best women's round in Karsten Creek history.
The 14-shot margin was Baylor's largest victory in the NCAA postseason and their biggest since a 30-shot victory at the Rainbow Wahine Invitational.
Each of Baylor's last four victories have come by at least 12 shots.
Baylor led or tied for the lead in in Par-3 (3.00), Par-4 (4.25) and Par-5 (4.65) scoring.
BU's six eagles were the most in the field, two more than Clemson's four.
Gurleen Kaur had three eagles to lead the field, while Rosie Belsham tied for the second-most with two.
Belsham tied for the best par-5 scoring average for the week with a 4.33.

QUOTE OF THE DAY
Head coach Jay Goble: "I really believe that this is the biggest win in our team's history. To come out here and play the way we did at Karsten Creek, which is one of our competitor's home golf course, in the convincing fashion we did – I couldn't be more proud of them. I really do believe that this is probably the biggest win in our team's history."

WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor will make its second-straight appearance at the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club May 20-25 in Scottsdale, Ariz. For more information on Baylor Women's Golf, follow @BaylorWGolf on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.