May 10, 2012

NCAA West Regional First-Round Results

ERIE, Colo. - Baylor All-Big 12 freshman women's golfer Hayley Davis shot a first-round 3-under 69 and is second Thursday after the first round of the 2012 NCAA West Regional at Colorado National Golf Course.

Davis, who tied for second at last month's Big 12 Championship, is two strokes behind the first-round leader, Sydney Burlison of Stanford (5-under 67). North Carolina's Catherine O'Donnell is third at 2-under 70, followed by eight players tied for fourth at 1-under 71.

No. 40 Stanford is the lone team in the field under-par through 18 holes and owns a one-stroke lead after finishing the first round at 1-under 287. No. 6 North Carolina is second at even-par 288, followed by No. 1 UCLA (2-over 290), No. 7 LSU (3-over 291) and Illinois and No. 13 Cal (both at 8-over 296).

No. 17 Baylor and No. 30 Texas Tech are tied for 10th at 12-over 300, three strokes back of the top eight. No. 11 Colorado, No. 19 Pepperdine and No. 31 Tulsa are tied for seventh at 9-over 297. The top eight teams at the end of the final round will advance to the NCAA Championship in Franklin, Tenn.

"We were 2-under through seven holes," first-year head coach Jay Goble said, "Then, all of a sudden, we were 7-over through 11. We played really bad on the final three holes of the back nine holes (16, 17, 18) and the first three of the front nine (1, 2, 3).

"That put us behind the eight ball a little bit," Goble said. "However, we're only three strokes out of the top eight. That's the silver lining."

Senior Jaclyn Jansen is tied for 32nd overall at 2-over 74, while senior All-Big 12 performer Chelsey Cothran is tied for 82nd at 6-over 78. Freshman Stani Schiavone and senior Valerie Sternebeck, both making their NCAA postseason debuts, are tied for 93rd at 7-over 79.

Davis (five) and Cothran (three) accounted for eight of Baylor's 12 birdies during the first round.

"Hayley was 3-under through four holes and was playing awesome," Goble said. "She's playing really solid right now. The problem is we can't rely on just her to get to nationals. We need some others to step up in the final two rounds."

Play at the NCAA West Regional continues with the second round Friday. Baylor - paired with Colorado and Cal - will tee off No. 1 beginning at 1:56 p.m. CDT. Live scoring will be available at www.golfstat.com.