Baylor men’s golf is No. 1 in Monday’s Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, marking the first time as the nation’s top team in program history. The men’s golf team is the fourth Baylor program to earn a No. 1 ranking in 2017, joining men’s basketball, equestrian and acrobatics & tumbling.
Baylor (69.06) moved ahead of Southern California (69.20) in the rankings after placing second at this weekend’s Aggie Invitational. Vanderbilt (69.26) is third in the rankings, followed by LSU (69.27) and Oklahoma State (69.34) rounding out the top five. The Big 12 Conference has five of the top 15 teams with No. 1 Baylor, No. 5 Oklahoma State, No. 12 Texas Tech, No. 13 Oklahoma and No. 15 Texas.
Third-year head coach Mike McGraw has led the Bears to seven consecutive top-three finishes, including tournament titles at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate, The All-American and the Linger Longer Invitational. The Bears finished second at the Maui Jim Intercollegiate, the Querencia Cabo Collegiate and the Aggie Invitational and third at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate.
“I am excited for this group of players,” McGraw said. “These guys have gotten better every week this year, and that has been the result of a lot of hard and purposeful work. There is reason to be excited about what lies ahead.”
Baylor has compiled a 93-14 head-to-head record during the 2016-17 season, including 88-5 over its last seven tournaments.
BU has used the same five-player lineup all season, with senior Hunter Shattuck, junior Matthew Perrine, sophomores Braden Bailey and Garrett May and freshman Cooper Dossey playing at various spots in the lineup. All five of those players are among the top 100 in the Golfweek men’s collegiate individual rankings.
Bailey checks in at No. 28, followed by Dossey at No. 31, May at No. 36, Perrine at No. 65 and Shattuck at No. 82. Bailey is third among Big 12 Conference players, trailing only Texas’ Doug Ghim (No. 13) and Oklahoma State’s Zachary Olsen (No. 25). Dossey ranks fifth in the conference, May is eighth, Perrine is 13th and Shattuck is 19th in the league.
Those five players have combined to shoot 73 of 115 rounds at par or better, and all five golfers have recorded multiple top-five individual finishes. Bailey leads the team with a 70.26 stroke average and four top-five finishes, while Dossey ranks second with a 70.52 stroke average and 16 rounds at par or better.
May ranks third on the team with a 70.83 stroke average and tied for the team lead with six top-25 finishes, while Perrine leads the team with 17 rounds at par or better and six top-10 finishes and ranks fourth with a 71.22 stroke average. Shattuck has 13 rounds at par or better, a 71.30 stroke average and two top-five finishes.
The Bears return to action at The Maxwell, which runs April 14-15 at Oak Tree Country Club in Edmond, Okla. BU then heads to the 2017 Big 12 Championship, which will be played April 24-26 at Prairie Duns Golf Club in Hutchinson, Kan.
BAYLOR TEAMS TO EARN No. 1 RANKINGS (last time at No. 1)
Men’s Golf (2017)
Men’s Basketball (2017)
Acrobatics & Tumbling (2017)
Equestrian (2017)
Women’s Basketball (2013)
Baseball (2012)
Women’s Tennis (2010)
Men’s Tennis (2005)
