EUGENE, Ore. – Baylor men’s golf dropped two spots to 28th place after shooting 16-over-par 296 in Saturday’s second round at the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship at Eugene Country Club. The Bears are 14 strokes back of the top 15 teams, which is the cut to advance following Sunday’s third round.
Baylor was led by freshman Braden Bailey, who carded four of the team’s nine birdies on the day on his way to a 3-over-par 73. He’s tied for 64th place individually with a 36-hole total of 5-over 145. Bailey was 5-over through 14 holes, but he made birdies on the 16th and 18th to finish with the team’s best score of the day.
Hunter Shattuck and Andreas Gjesteby both shot 4-over 74. Shattuck made a team-high 13 pars and is tied for 64th place with a two-round total of 5-over 145. Gjesteby finished his round with a birdie on the 18th hole and is tied for 109th place at 9-over 149.
Freddy Andersen carded a 5-over 75, but he finished strong with four pars and a birdie over his last five holes. He sank a 35-foot birdie putt on the 192-yard, par-3 14th hole, then carried that momentum to four consecutive pars to close the round. Andersen is tied for 140th place at 13-over 153. Matthew Perrine made 12 pars on the day, but also had six bogeys and finished at 6-over 76. He’s tied for 125th place at 11-over 151.
Baylor (+29) is ahead of No. 33 UAB (+39) and No. 32 Purdue (+44). The Bears are within single-digits of No. 44 TCU (+21), No. 35 Houston (+23), No. 15 South Florida (+25), No. 1 Stanford (+26) and No. 23 Virginia (+26).
HIGHLIGHTS
- Baylor is tied for 21st in par-5 scoring at 4-under 4.80, ranks 23rd in par-3 scoring at 16-over 3.40 and tied for 26th in par-4 scoring at 31-over 4.26
- Baylor’s 102 pars over two ranks ranked 21st in the 30-team field, and the Bears are tied for 21st with 23 birdies
- Braden Bailey is tied for ninth in the 156-player field with eight birdies made over 36 holes
- Hunter Shattuck leads the team with 22 pars, while Freddy Andersen and Matthew Perrine have made 21 pars apiece
- Freddy Andersen made birdie on the 192-yard, par-3 14th hole by sinking a 35-foot putt. That hole played as the second-toughest in the round with an average score to par of +0.47
- Andersen’s birdie on No. 14 was one of just eight of out 156 times the hole was played on Saturday
- Bailey made birdie on the 205-yard, par-3 16th hole, which played as the fourth-toughest hole of the day at +0.38 to par. Bailey’s was one of just 10 birdies made on the 16th hole in the second round.
STAT OF THE DAY
8 - the number of birdies Braden Bailey has made in the tournament, which is tied for ninth-most in the 156-player field. He’s carded four birdies in each of the first two rounds, and his eight birdies have come across seven different holes.
TOP QUOTE
“I wish we could come here more often, because it tests everything about you as a player. It tests everything about your resolve, your mettle, everything about what makes a winning golfer,” head coach Mike McGraw said. “We didn’t pass that test today, so hopefully tomorrow we can come out and play a round of golf that’s representative of what these kids feel like they are, not let today be a setback and instead be a motivating factor for us.”
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor is paired with UAB and Purdue for Sunday’s third round, and the teams will begin from the 10th tee at 3:50 p.m. CT. The Bears will need to climb to the top 15 teams on the leaderboard in order to advance to Monday’s fourth round of stroke play. Andersen is first off the tee at 3:50 p.m., and he’ll be followed in 11-minute intervals by Perrine, Gjesteby, Shattuck and Bailey, respectively. For live scoring information throughout the tournament, visit www.golfstat.com. Follow @BaylorMGolf on twitter for updates throughout the season.
