TEAM FIRST
10/1/2026 8:32:00 AM | Women's Golf, "B" Association, Athletic News
Golf's Hayley Davis set school records that may never be broken
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This is the third in a series of stories profiling this year's inductees for the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame and Wall of Honor, which will be posted every week at BaylorBears.com.
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Before Hayley Davis came to Baylor in the fall of 2011, the women's golf program had made exactly one appearance at the NCAA Championship, finishing in a tie for 19th in 2004.
Coinciding with the arrival of head coach Jay Goble, the Bornemouth, England, native put the program on the map, leading the Bears to a national runner-up finish as a senior in 2015 and starting an incredible run that has seen them make the NCAA Championship eight times in the last 11 years.
"This program was built on the back of Hayley Davis," Goble said of Davis, who is part of the 2026 class for the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame. "She took a chance on Baylor, and she helped us tremendously become the predominant top-25 program that we are today."
The 2010 English Ladies Amateur champion, Davis initially committed to Sylvia Ferdon, who retired at the end of the 2010-11 season.
"I actually got recruited by the old coaches," Davis said. "And then in August, I got the call from Jay when he got the job. That was different coming in and not knowing. But to be honest, straight away, we got on really well. I just had a great time, to be fair. It was definitely a good choice coming to Baylor."
Making an immediate impact as a freshman, Davis helped the Bears win three team titles and post a third-place individual finish at the NCAA West Regional. After tying for fifth at the regional, BU advanced to the NCAA Championship for just the second time and tied for 16th.
"There has never been a player like Hayley Davis at Baylor," Goble said. "I think consistency is the key to what she has done to change the program. I feel extremely blessed that I came into a team that had Hayley Davis already committed to come play for Baylor."
A three-time All-Big 12 honoree, Davis was the runner-up as a freshman, finishing just a stroke out of first place; fourth as a sophomore; and tied for 10th as a senior, helping the Bears win the program's first and only Big 12 team championship.
"Me coming in at the same time with Jay, we didn't know it was going to be like that," Davis said. "We just kind of built on it, and we had such a good team. . . . We all had the same goals. And especially my senior year, we all really wanted to work together as a team to get the results we wanted. I just enjoyed being a part of it. it's good to see the program still carrying on from that."
Her senior year was one for the record books. Not only did she set the school records for single-season (72.32) and career scoring averages (73.00), Davis won the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational, was the runner-up at the prestigious Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge and won the NCAA San Antonio Regional by five strokes with a school-record 16-under-par 200.
Always a team-first player, Davis was in contention for medalist honors in the Northrop tournament at Palos Verdes, Calif. But she was more concerned about the team standings when she quizzed Goble after finishing her final round.
"When I was able to tell her that we won, the excitement on her face I will never forget," Goble said of the Bears beating fourth-ranked USC by four shots to win the team title. "In golf, we are usually concerned about our individual results, but she was so happy for the big win for her team. At the time, it was the biggest win in program history."
Davis says the team aspect of college golf brought out the best in her game.
"Obviously, playing golf, choosing that as my main sport, it is more individual," she said. "And when you're out there, you're on your own. But feeling like you are part of a team and you've got the team, I think it just brings out the best in me as a person. I enjoy that side of it. And when I was at Baylor, that's what made it so special is all the players had that same mindset of playing for each other."
After punching their ticket to the NCAA Championship with a record-setting performance at the San Antonio Regional, the Bears were third in stroke play at the national tournament to earn a spot in the eight-team match play.
Baylor defeated sixth-seeded Tennessee, 3-1-1, in the quarterfinals behind Davis's head-to-head win over the Vols' A.J. Newell, then rallied to upset defending national champion Duke, 3-2, in the semifinals when freshman Lauren Whyte won her match on the sixth hole of a playoff.
In position to win the program's first national championship, Davis went 2-up on Stanford's Mariah Stackhouse when she hit an incredible 8-iron approach shot out of the mud from 134 yards and knocked in an eight-foot birdie putt at the 16th.
Golf Channel's Kay Cockerill said it "had to have been one of the most incredible birdies we've seen all week."
"One of Hayley's strengths is that she doesn't fear anything," Cockerill said.
With the team match knotted at 2-2, Stackhouse won the final two holes to force a playoff, and then Davis missed a par putt on the first playoff hole at No. 10.
Although she was devastated by the loss in her last collegiate match, Davis said, "That's why I came to Baylor, because that's what I wanted for the program."
"Where the program was before I came, I knew it wasn't the best program," she said, "but it had potential, and that's why came to Baylor, because I knew it really could be like this. I'm just really excited how it's going for them, and I think it's only going to get better, too."
A three-time All-American, earning first-team honors from Golfweekly as a senior, Davis set school records that will likely never be broken with 28 top-10 finishes (in 47 tournaments) and 20 in the top five.
And now, she earns a spot in the Baylor Hall of Fame with a class that includes "Voice of the Bears" John Morris, football's Corey Coleman, basketball's Quincy Acy, baseball's Zane Carlson and Trayvon Bromell, Tiffani McReynolds and the late Bill Martineson from track and field.
"I wasn't really expecting it, to be fair," Davis said of her election to the Hall of Fame. "Obviously, I graduated like 10 years ago, so it's quite a while ago. But when Jay sent me a message and then I got the call, it was so exciting. I'm really excited that I'm going to be able to come back (for the banquet) as well. I haven't been back for a while, so it'll be nice."
Since turning pro in 2015, Davis has won four titles, the last coming at the 2023 Cape Town Ladies Open on the Sunshine Tour. While she plays only limited pro tournaments now, Hayley is helping "some of the younger players coming up . . . to help give them the same opportunities that I had in any way that I can."
This is the third in a series of stories profiling this year's inductees for the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame and Wall of Honor, which will be posted every week at BaylorBears.com.
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Before Hayley Davis came to Baylor in the fall of 2011, the women's golf program had made exactly one appearance at the NCAA Championship, finishing in a tie for 19th in 2004.
Coinciding with the arrival of head coach Jay Goble, the Bornemouth, England, native put the program on the map, leading the Bears to a national runner-up finish as a senior in 2015 and starting an incredible run that has seen them make the NCAA Championship eight times in the last 11 years.
"This program was built on the back of Hayley Davis," Goble said of Davis, who is part of the 2026 class for the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame. "She took a chance on Baylor, and she helped us tremendously become the predominant top-25 program that we are today."
The 2010 English Ladies Amateur champion, Davis initially committed to Sylvia Ferdon, who retired at the end of the 2010-11 season.
"I actually got recruited by the old coaches," Davis said. "And then in August, I got the call from Jay when he got the job. That was different coming in and not knowing. But to be honest, straight away, we got on really well. I just had a great time, to be fair. It was definitely a good choice coming to Baylor."
Making an immediate impact as a freshman, Davis helped the Bears win three team titles and post a third-place individual finish at the NCAA West Regional. After tying for fifth at the regional, BU advanced to the NCAA Championship for just the second time and tied for 16th.
"There has never been a player like Hayley Davis at Baylor," Goble said. "I think consistency is the key to what she has done to change the program. I feel extremely blessed that I came into a team that had Hayley Davis already committed to come play for Baylor."
A three-time All-Big 12 honoree, Davis was the runner-up as a freshman, finishing just a stroke out of first place; fourth as a sophomore; and tied for 10th as a senior, helping the Bears win the program's first and only Big 12 team championship.
"Me coming in at the same time with Jay, we didn't know it was going to be like that," Davis said. "We just kind of built on it, and we had such a good team. . . . We all had the same goals. And especially my senior year, we all really wanted to work together as a team to get the results we wanted. I just enjoyed being a part of it. it's good to see the program still carrying on from that."
Her senior year was one for the record books. Not only did she set the school records for single-season (72.32) and career scoring averages (73.00), Davis won the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational, was the runner-up at the prestigious Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge and won the NCAA San Antonio Regional by five strokes with a school-record 16-under-par 200.
Always a team-first player, Davis was in contention for medalist honors in the Northrop tournament at Palos Verdes, Calif. But she was more concerned about the team standings when she quizzed Goble after finishing her final round.
"When I was able to tell her that we won, the excitement on her face I will never forget," Goble said of the Bears beating fourth-ranked USC by four shots to win the team title. "In golf, we are usually concerned about our individual results, but she was so happy for the big win for her team. At the time, it was the biggest win in program history."
Davis says the team aspect of college golf brought out the best in her game.
"Obviously, playing golf, choosing that as my main sport, it is more individual," she said. "And when you're out there, you're on your own. But feeling like you are part of a team and you've got the team, I think it just brings out the best in me as a person. I enjoy that side of it. And when I was at Baylor, that's what made it so special is all the players had that same mindset of playing for each other."
After punching their ticket to the NCAA Championship with a record-setting performance at the San Antonio Regional, the Bears were third in stroke play at the national tournament to earn a spot in the eight-team match play.
Baylor defeated sixth-seeded Tennessee, 3-1-1, in the quarterfinals behind Davis's head-to-head win over the Vols' A.J. Newell, then rallied to upset defending national champion Duke, 3-2, in the semifinals when freshman Lauren Whyte won her match on the sixth hole of a playoff.
In position to win the program's first national championship, Davis went 2-up on Stanford's Mariah Stackhouse when she hit an incredible 8-iron approach shot out of the mud from 134 yards and knocked in an eight-foot birdie putt at the 16th.
Golf Channel's Kay Cockerill said it "had to have been one of the most incredible birdies we've seen all week."
"One of Hayley's strengths is that she doesn't fear anything," Cockerill said.
With the team match knotted at 2-2, Stackhouse won the final two holes to force a playoff, and then Davis missed a par putt on the first playoff hole at No. 10.
Although she was devastated by the loss in her last collegiate match, Davis said, "That's why I came to Baylor, because that's what I wanted for the program."
"Where the program was before I came, I knew it wasn't the best program," she said, "but it had potential, and that's why came to Baylor, because I knew it really could be like this. I'm just really excited how it's going for them, and I think it's only going to get better, too."
A three-time All-American, earning first-team honors from Golfweekly as a senior, Davis set school records that will likely never be broken with 28 top-10 finishes (in 47 tournaments) and 20 in the top five.
And now, she earns a spot in the Baylor Hall of Fame with a class that includes "Voice of the Bears" John Morris, football's Corey Coleman, basketball's Quincy Acy, baseball's Zane Carlson and Trayvon Bromell, Tiffani McReynolds and the late Bill Martineson from track and field.
"I wasn't really expecting it, to be fair," Davis said of her election to the Hall of Fame. "Obviously, I graduated like 10 years ago, so it's quite a while ago. But when Jay sent me a message and then I got the call, it was so exciting. I'm really excited that I'm going to be able to come back (for the banquet) as well. I haven't been back for a while, so it'll be nice."
Since turning pro in 2015, Davis has won four titles, the last coming at the 2023 Cape Town Ladies Open on the Sunshine Tour. While she plays only limited pro tournaments now, Hayley is helping "some of the younger players coming up . . . to help give them the same opportunities that I had in any way that I can."
The 2026 Baylor Hall of Fame Banquet is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20, in the Hurd Welcome Center Grand Ballroom on the Baylor University campus. Registration is available here.
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