Baylor women’s golf is in fifth place after shooting 7-over-par 291 in Friday’s first round at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate at Long Cove Club. BU recovered from a slow start sitting at 7-over through five holes to shoot even-par over the final 13 holes.
All four teams in front of No. 19 Baylor (+7) are ranked higher in the latest GolfStat rankings. BU trails No. 5 Alabama (-2), No. 18 Duke (+2), No. 10 Arizona State (+4) and No. 14 South Carolina (+5). The Lady Bears lead No. 8 Georgia (+8), No. 32 Tennessee (+9), Vanderbilt (+10), No. 34 North Carolina (+12), No. 16 Oklahoma State (+12), No. 11 Wake Forest (+12), LSU (+12), No. 6 Furman (+13), No. 40 Auburn (+15), No. 12 Arkansas (+18), Mississippi State (+22) and Virginia (+36).
BU is led by Amy Lee, who recovered from being 3-over through four holes to finish the day at even-par 71, good for a tie for ninth place. She made eagle on the 520-yard, par-5 15th hole, becoming the only golfer in the 90-player field to make an eagle in the first round.
Dylan Kim and Maggie Beth Byers are tied for 21st place after both shot 2-over 73, with Byers making birdies on three of her final five holes. Maria Vesga is tied for 36th place at 3-over 74, and Fiona Liddell is tied for 76th at 9-over 80.
HIGHLIGHTS
Baylor is tied for the lead in the 17-team field with a 4-under 4.73 par-5 scoring average. BU is tied for fifth in par-4 scoring at 16-over 4.29.
Baylor made 12 birdies in the first round, tied for fifth-most in the field.
Dylan Kim is tied for first in the 90-player field with a 3-under 4.00 par-5 scoring average – she made birdies on all three par-5 holes: No. 3, No. 6 and No. 15.
Amy Lee is tied for sixth in par-4 scoring at even-par 4.00.
Maggie Beth Byers and Lee are tied for ninth with 1-under 4.67 par-5 scoring averages.
Byers tied for the tournament lead with five birdies on the day.
Maria Vesga tied for ninth with 13 pars over 18 holes.
In addition to making the only eagle on the day, Lee was one of three players to birdie to par-4, 384-yard 16th hole, which played as the second-most difficult hole at +0.49.
STAT OF THE DAY
4.00 – Dylan Kim’s tournament-leading par-5 scoring average. She made birdies on all three par-5 holes: No. 3, No. 6 and No. 15.
WHAT'S NEXT
Saturday’s second round begins at 7:30 a.m. CT with tee times from both the first and 10th holes. Baylor players are paired with golfers from South Carolina and Georgia and will begin on the first tee. Liddell is up first at 8:20 a.m., and she’ll be followed in 10-minute intervals by Vesga, Byers, Kim and Lee, respectively.
