Baylor men’s golf earned one of eight spots in NCAA Championships match play by finishing tied for seventh place following four rounds of stroke play at Rich Harvest Farms. The Bears carded a 16-over-par 304 on Monday to finish at 7-over 1159, two strokes ahead of the cut to advance to match play for the first time in program history.
No. 5-ranked Baylor advances to face No. 17 Oklahoma in the quarterfinals at 7 a.m. CT Tuesday. OU (-1) finished second in stroke play, while Baylor (+7) earned the No. 7 seed by virtue of a scorecard tiebreaker against No. 16 UNLV (+7). The Bears’ non-counting scores across all four rounds totaled +19, while UNLV’s non-counting scores totaled +21.
UNLV faces No. 4-ranked Vanderbilt (-13), which earned the No. 1 seed by leading stroke play by 12 shots. No. 8 Illinois (+2) finished in third place and takes on No. 1 USC (+6), and No. 3 Oklahoma State (+3) took fourth and faces No. 9 Oregon (+6).
By advancing to eight-team match play, the Bears secured the best NCAA Championships finish in program history, besting the tie for ninth place in 1960. Baylor, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State combined to give the Big 12 Conference three of the remaining eight teams, while the Pac-12 is the only other conference with multiple teams remaining.
Strong winds on Monday led to higher scores than any of the first three rounds, and the Bears’ 16-over tied the fifth-best round in the 15-team field. Baylor started from the 10th tee and had a tough start, carding a triple bogey, four double bogeys and 12 bogeys against just nine birdies. BU improved by nine pars in the second half of the round, posting one triple bogey, one double bogey, 11 bogeys and four birdies.
Sophomore Garrett May was first off the tee and carded the Bears’ best round of the day at 1-over 73, including birdies on Nos. 11, 18 and 2, as well as a chip-in eagle from the sand on the par-4 sixth hole. May finished tied for 56th place individually with a 72-hole total of 9-over 297.
Sophomore Braden Bailey was next off the tee and posted Baylor’s second-best round at 3-over 75 to finish tied for 56th place at 9-over 297. He started 4-over through six holes, then rebounded with two birdies, one bogey and nine pars over his final 12 holes. As the Bears creeped closer to the cut line, Bailey came up big with seven pars and one birdie over his final eight holes. He carded birdies on Nos. 14, 18 and 6.
Senior Hunter Shattuck teed off third and shot 5-over 77 to finish tied for 28th place at 2-over 290. He began with a triple bogey on No. 10, but shot just 2-over the rest of the way with birdies on Nos. 12, 15 and 3.
Freshman Cooper Dossey was fourth off the tee and carded a 7-over 79 to finish tied for 35th place at 4-over 292. He took the turn at 4-over and played his first six holes after the turn at 1-under, but a bogey on No. 6 was followed by a triple bogey on No. 7. His pars on Nos. 8 and 9 clinched Baylor’s match play berth.
Junior Matthew Perrine anchored the Bears’ lineup in the final round and shot 8-over 80 to finish tied for 28th place at 2-over 290. His lone birdie of the day came on No. 17, but he played the back-nine at 3-over, which was crucial as his score was the difference between Baylor earning the No. 7 or No. 8 seed in match play.
HIGHLIGHTS
Baylor clinched the best NCAA Championships finish in program history. BU’s best previous finish was a tie for ninth place at the 1960 Championships.
Baylor led the 30-team field in par-4 scoring at 25-over 4.13, tied for 10th in par-4 scoring at 16-over 3.20 and ranked 17th in par-5 scoring at 15-under 4.81.
Baylor’s 67 birdies tied for fifth-most in the field, and the Bears also tied for fifth with 213 pars.
Cooper Dossey tied for sixth in the 156-player field with 47 pars, tied for ninth in par-3 scoring at even-par 3.00, tied for ninth in par-4 scoring at 2-over 4.05.
Matthew Perrine tied for ninth in par-3 scoring at even-par 3.00.
Garrett May tied for 13th in par-5 scoring at 7-under 4.56.
Hunter Shattuck tied for eighth with 17 birdies and tied for 17th in par-3 scoring at 1-over 3.06.
Braden Bailey tied for 15th with 45 pars and tied for 17th in par-4 scoring at 4-over 4.10.
May’s eagle on the par-4, 376-yard 6th hole was one of three eagles made on the hole during the 72-hole tournament.
Perrine’s second-round eagle on the par-5, 562-yard seventh hole was one of six eagles made on the hole during the tournament.
STAT OF THE DAY
2 – the number of schools to have both men’s and women’s golf programs advance to eight-team NCAA Championships match play – Baylor and USC. Three Baylor teams have earned spots among the NCAA’s final eight teams in their respective sports over the past eight days – women’s golf advanced to NCAA Championships match play on May 22, softball advanced to the Women’s College World Series on May 28, and men’s golf earned a spot in NCAA Championships match play on May 29.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS MATCH PLAY
[1] No. 4 Vanderbilt vs. [8] No. 16 UNLV
[2] No. 17 Oklahoma vs. [7] No. 5 Baylor
[3] No. 8 Illinois vs. [6] No. 1 USC
[4] No. 3 Oklahoma State vs. [5] No. 9 Oregon
BAYLOR vs. OKLAHOMA QUARTERFINAL PAIRINGS
7:00 a.m. – Blaine Hale (OU) vs. No. 36 Cooper Dossey (BU)
7:10 a.m. – No. 58 Max McGreevy (OU) vs. No. 62 Braden Bailey (BU)
7:20 a.m. – Rylee Reinertson (OU) vs. No. 95 Garrett May (BU)
7:30 a.m. – No. 48 Grant Hirschman (OU) vs. No. 90 Hunter Shattuck (BU)
7:40 a.m. – Brad Dalke (OU) vs. No. 55 Matthew Perrine (BU)
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor faces Oklahoma in the NCAA Championships quarterfinals. The teams tee off from No. 1 at 7 a.m. CT Tuesday, with Dossey up first for the Bears. He’ll be followed by Bailey (7:10), May (7:20), Shattuck (7:30) and Perrine (7:40). Golf Channel coverage begins at 10 a.m. CT. The winner of the Baylor-Oklahoma match faces the winner of Illinois vs. USC in a semifinal match at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, and the championship match is at 2:10 p.m. Wednesday. Follow @BaylorMGolf on Twitter and Facebook for updates throughout the season.
