Baylor Women's Golf Advances to NCAA Championship Match Play
Bears finished third in stroke play, will face Tennessee in quarterfinals
THE RUNDOWN
BRADENTON, Fla. – Baylor women's golf saved its best for last, shooting even-par 288 in Monday's fourth and final round of stroke play at the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championship at The Concession Golf Club. The Bears posted a 72-hole total of 46-over-par, 1,198, which earned BU the No. 3 seed and a matchup with No. 6 seed Tennessee in Tuesday's match play quarterfinals.
Baylor is already assured of its best NCAA Championship finish in program history. BU's final round of even-par 288 was the second-best at the 2015 Championship and set a school record for best-ever round at the NCAA Championship.
Dylan Kim finished with three consecutive birdies to card a 5-under 67, which was the second-best score out of 480 rounds played at this year's event. Kim's 72-hole score of even-par 288 was good for fourth place individually. Hayley Davis and Laura Lonardi tied for 21st place at 12-over 300. Davis shot even-par in the final round, while Lonardi was 1-over. Giovana Maymon shot 4-over 76 in the final round to finish tied for 49th place at 22-over 310, and Lauren Whyte finished in 84th place at 54-over 342 after a final round of 10-over 82.
The top eight teams following 72 holes of stroke play advanced to match play to determine the national champion. Baylor (46, 1198) made that cut by 18 strokes and finished 14 strokes ahead of its quarterfinals opponent, No. 6 seed Tennessee (+60, 1212). The Bears were just six strokes back of No. 1 seed Southern California (+40, 1192), who will face No. 8 seed Washington (+62, 1214). Duke (+45, 1197) earned the No. 2 seed and will face No. 7 seed Texas Tech (+60, 1212), and No. 4 seed Stanford (+47, 1199) will face No. 5 seed Arizona (+53, 1205).
HIGHLIGHTS
· Baylor's final round 288 was the program's best ever at the NCAA Championship and was the sixth-best NCAA Tournament round in program history.
· Baylor's 288 was one stroke back of Stanford's final round for best score out of 87 team rounds of stroke play at the 2015 Championship.
· The Bears are assured of the best NCAA Championship finish in program history.
· Kim's fourth-place finish surpassed teammate Davis (2014, t-10th place) for the best NCAA Championship individual finish in program history.
· Kim's 67 trailed only Arkansas' Gaby Lobez (66) for best round in the Championship.
· Baylor finished second in the 24-team field with a 4.96 par-5 scoring average.
· Baylor finished tied for seventh in the field with a 3.25 par-3 scoring average.
· Baylor finished 12th in the field with a 4.42 par-4 scoring average.
· Baylor's 49 birdies trailed only Southern California's 59 for most in the field.
· Kim and Davis tied for fourth in the field with 3.06 par-3 scoring averages.
· Kim tied for eighth in par-4 scoring average at 4.10, and she tied for fifth with a 4.69 par-5 scoring average.
· Kim was the only player out of 132 in the field to rank in the top 10 in par-3, par-4 and par-5 scoring average.
STAT OF THE DAY
18 – Baylor made the cut to match play by 18 strokes, which was triple the difference between the Bears and first-place Southern California (six strokes).
TOP QUOTE #1
"Today was amazing,” head coach Jay Goble said. “This week, to come out on this type of golf course with the best field in college golf and to play the way we did for four days, I'm amazed right now. I don't know why I am because this team ceases to amaze me. They came out confidently today and they looked great out there. And I didn't see any nerves. I saw the whole team believing that they deserved to be in match play, and we're just going to go out and stick with our game plan like we have all year and take care of business. And they did that.
TOP QUOTE #2
“I told you yesterday that her (Dylan Kim's) 72 was like a 67,” Goble said. “And then she went out and shot 67. All I've got to say is impressive. This golf course challenges you. You can't take a breath out here. Every shot that's in front of you requires your 100 percent attention. To go out there and shoot 5-under on this golf course on the last day of nationals, that's as strong as it gets right there.”
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor will face Tennessee in the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championship match play quarterfinals starting at 6 a.m. CT Tuesday on the 10th tee. The winner of that match will advance to Tuesday's semifinals at 12:30 p.m. CT against the winner of No. 2 seed Duke vs. No. 7 seed Texas Tech. Lonardi will be up first for BU at 6 a.m. against Tennessee's Lucia Polo. Whyte will follow at 6:10 a.m. against Hannah Pietila, then Davis will tee off at 6:20 a.m. against A.J. Newell. Maymon will begin at 6:30 a.m. against Emmie Pietila, and Kim will anchor the lineup at 6:40 a.m. against Anna Newell.
STROKE PLAY RESULTS
1. Southern California +40
2. Duke +45
3. BAYLOR +46
4. Stanford +47
5. Arizona +53
t6. Tennessee +60
t6. Texas Tech +60
8. Washington +62
9. Arkansas +65
10. Northwestern +66
11. UC Davis +68
12. Purdue +70
13. Wake Forest +72
14. Alabama +74
15. UCLA +81
(teams below were cut after third round)
16. UNLV +67
17. South Carolina +68
18. Texas A&M +69
19. Tulane +71
t20. Virginia +74
t20. LSU +74
22. North Carolina State +78
23. Campbell +86
24. California +89
