Baylor women’s golf is in third place after shooting 6-under-par 282 in Monday’s first round at the Dick McGuire Invitational at the University of New Mexico Championship Golf Course.
Sophomore Maria Vesga led the way with a 3-under-par 69 to finish the day in a tie for seventh place. Vesga made birdies on Nos. 7, 9 and 15, along with 15 pars. Redshirt sophomore Dylan Kim made four birdies, two bogeys and 12 pars to card a 2-under 70, good for a tie for 10th place. Freshman Fiona Liddell began her round with consecutive bogeys, but she bounced back with birdies on Nos. 2, 8, 9 and 18, along with 11 pars to shoot 1-under 71 and finish the day tied for 17th place after her first collegiate round.
Senior Maggie Beth Byers made par on all 18 holes to finish the day tied for 26th place at even-par 72. Freshman Evelyn Arguelles was 4-over through five holes, but she made four birdies in an eight-hole span to get back to even before finishing tied for 41st place at 2-over 74. Junior USC transfer Amy Lee, who is competing as an individual, made three birdies and five bogeys to finish tie for 41st place at 2-over 74.
Baylor (-6) trails only Oklahoma State (-14) and Colorado (-7). Arizona State (-4) and Northwestern (-1) round out the top five, followed by Iowa State (+2), California (+2), Arizona (+2) and Oklahoma (+2) in a four-way tie for sixth place. Pepperdine (+8) and San Diego State (+8) are tied for 10th place, New Mexico (+11) is in 11th, Denver (+13), UNLV (+13) and Washington State (+13) are tied for 12th place, and UC Davis (+14) is in 16th place.
Teams played 11 holes in the second round before play was suspended due to inclement weather. The second round will resume at 8:30 a.m. CT Tuesday, with the third and final round immediately following.
HIGHLIGHTS
Baylor ranks second in the 16-team field in par-3 scoring at 2-under 2.90.
BU is third in par-4 scoring at 2-over 4.04 and sixth in par-5 scoring at 4-under 4.80.
Baylor’s 65 pars on the day were second-most in the field, trailing only UC Davis (68).
Maria Vesga is tied for third in the 92-player field in par-4 scoring at 2-under 3.80.
Fiona Liddell and Dylan Kim are tied for seventh in par-3 scoring at 1-under 2.75.
Liddell is tied for ninth in par-5 scoring at 2-under 4.50.
Maggie Beth Byers made par on all 18 holes, two more pars than anyone else in the 92-player field.
Evelyn Arguelles, Kim and Liddell each made four birdies, tied for 11th-most on the day.
STAT OF THE DAY
18 – Maggie Beth Byers made par on all 18 holes in the first round, recording two more pars than anyone else in the 92-player field.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“It feels good for our team to be out here and in a competitive mindset,” head coach Jay Goble said. “We still have a lot more golf to play. We’re going to take care of what we can control and hit one shot at a time. Everyone is really playing solid golf right now, and it’s hard to pick one standout performer because it has been a real team effort.”
