May 19, 2017
NCAA Championships Day One Results and Statistics 
THE RUNDOWN
SUGAR GROVE, Ill. -- Baylor women's golf is in third place after shooting 23-over-par 311 in Friday's first round of the 2017 NCAA Championships. The Lady Bears tied the best score among the 12 teams in Friday's morning wave at Rich Harvest Farms.
Scores were high throughout the day, as cold winds combined with consistent rainfall to make the course even more difficult than expected. Baylor's 23-over tied No. 25 Ohio State as the best round in the morning session, and only two teams topped that score in the afternoon. No. 12 Northwestern (+13) and No. 14 Kent State (+15) are the top two teams, followed by BU, OSU, No. 1 Stanford and No. 7 Arizona State in a four-way tie for third place.
Five top 10-ranked teams are outside the top 15 after the first round. No. 3 Florida (+32) is in 16th place, No. 9 Furman (+35) is in 18th, No. 5 Florida State (+37) and No. 8 Duke (+37) are tied for 19th, and No. 2 Alabama (+40) is in 21st place.
No. 11 South Carolina (+25) is in seventh place, followed by No. 35 North Carolina (+26) and a three-way tie for ninth place between No. 6 USC (+27), No. 24 Purdue (+27) and No. 28 Michigan (+28). No. 13 Miami (+28) is in 12th place, No. 16 Texas (+29) and No. 44 Michigan State (+29) are tied for 13th place, and No. 21 California (+31) is in 15th place. The third Big 12 team in the field, No. 30 Texas Tech (+47), is in 24th place.
The 24-team field is scheduled to play the second round on Saturday and a third round on Sunday before nine teams are cut, leaving 15 teams to compete in Monday's fourth and final round of stroke play. The top eight teams following stroke play advance to match play to determine the national champion.
Baylor was led by junior Amy Lee, who shot 5-over 77 to finish the day tied for 19th place in the 132-player field. Redshirt sophomore Dylan Kim, sophomore Maria Vesga and freshman Fiona Liddell all shot 6-over 78 to tie for 33rd place. Senior Maggie Beth Byers took the turn at 3-over, but she carded a 15-over 87 after the conditions worsened later in the round.
Byers and Lee both birdied their first hole of the day, as Baylor began the round from the 10th hole. Lee chipped in from just off the green, and she followed with another birdie on her third hole (No. 12) of the day, but BU players would make just two more birdies the rest of the day. Liddell birdied her eighth hole (No. 17) and Kim birdied her 11th hole (No. 2). Those five birdies still ranked in the top half of the field, tied for 11th-most out of 24 teams.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Baylor ranks fourth in par-4 scoring at 20-over 4.40, tied for 11th in par-5 scoring at 6-over 5.30 and tied for 18th in par-3 scoring at 12-over 3.60.
- Baylor's 49 pars tied Miami and Michigan for fifth-most in the round.
- Fiona Liddell is tied for fourth in the 132-player field in par-4 scoring at 2-over 4.20.
- Dylan Kim is tied for eighth in par-5 scoring at 1-under 4.75.
- Amy Lee and Maria Vesga are tied for 12th in par-4 scoring at 3-over 4.30.
- Vesga's 12 pars are one back of the tournament lead shared by eight players.
- Lee was one of only five players to make birdie on the par-4, 341-yard 12th hole.
- Liddell was one of six players to birdie the par-4, 367-yard 17th, a hole that played as the second toughest on the day with an average of +0.79.
STAT OF THE DAY
1 -- Baylor was the only team out of 12 in the morning wave to post all four counting scores below 80. Amy Lee carded a 77, while Fiona Liddell, Dylan Kim and Maria Vesga each shot 78.
WHAT'S NEXT
Saturday's round was cancelled due to thunderstorms, and the tournament was reduced from 72 to 54 holes with no cuts during the stroke play portion. All 24 teams will play the second round Sunday and a third round Monday. The top eight teams advance to match play beginning Tuesday to determine the national champion. Baylor is slotted to play in the afternoon wave of tee times for Sunday's second round. BU is scheduled to tee off from No. 1 at 12:30 p.m. CT and is again paired with Texas and California. Byers is first off the tee, and she'll be followed in 11-minute intervals by Vesga, Liddell, Kim and Lee, respectively. Live scoring is available at www.GolfStat.com. Follow @BaylorWGolf on Twitter and Facebook for updates throughout the season.
