Women's Golf Heads to 2018 NCAA Championship
5/17/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
Back in the NCAA Championship for the third time in four years, Baylor coach Jay Goble knows that "you can't win the national championship unless you get there."
Playing above seed in its last two appearances, Baylor made it to the eight-team match play both times, losing to Stanford in the 2015 final and the top-ranked Cardinal again in the 2017 quarterfinals.
In Goble's mind, "the hard part is over."
That came at last week's Austin Regional, when freshman Diane Baillieux and junior Maria Vesga were both in the hospital ER until a few hours before their scheduled tee times for the final round.
Vesga had to withdraw with a stomach virus that made its way through the tournament field, but Baillieux gutted it out for an even-par 72 that helped Baylor finish in a three-way tie for third and a qualifying spot for the NCAA Championship that starts Friday at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla.
"To have Maria go down on the seventh hole, it's a little stressful knowing that you're down to the four players you have and everybody's going to have to post a score," Goble said. "It was a fun day but a very stressful day. At 6 a.m., I think I was as stressed as I've ever been, thinking there's a possibility that we're going to have to forfeit and not be able to play at nationals because of a stomach virus was a little hard to take.
"At the end of the day, glad they came through and played their hearts out and we're going to Stillwater." Few of the 24 teams in the field at the national tournament come in with more momentum than Baylor. The Bears beat five top-50 teams at the Liz Murphey Collegiate in Athens, Ga., including 13th-ranked Florida, tied for second at last month's Big 12 Championship and then got through a tough regional that left 11th-ranked Michigan and No. 25 Houston out.
"We've been the underdog, we've risen to the occasion, and I think we have so much momentum going for us," said senior Amy Lee, who's second on the team with a 74.29-stroke average, "there's no stopping us now."
Despite Baylor's appearance in last year's quarterfinals, Baillieux said people were writing off the Bears after losing Maggie Beth Byers to graduation and Dylan Kim as a transfer to Arkansas.
"I heard a lot of people say, `Yeah, Baylor women's golf was good last year, but they lost some players. They're not good anymore,''' said Baillieux, who has a 74.56 average with four top-25 finishes in nine tournaments this year. "We didn't play really well the first semester, but we played good at the right moment."
Baylor's hottest player going into the NCAA Championship is first-semester freshman Gurleen Kaur. She shot 5-over 221 to finish seventh at the Big 12 tournament, followed by a tie for 12th in the Austin Regional at 3-under 213.
"We're trending in the right direction and playing our best golf at the end of the year," Goble said. "I think the team feels that. They feel confident. They feel like their games are getting better and they feel like it's the right time."
Rounding out the Baylor lineup are sophomore Fiona Liddell and Vesga, who are fourth and fifth on the team, respectively, averaging 74.72 and 74.93.
Ranked 26th and seeded 20th, Baylor is paired with Louisville and Virginia for the first two rounds, with tee times starting at 8:36 a.m. Friday off the 10th tee box.
Baylor men's coach Mike McGraw, the former Oklahoma State coach that "spent 16 years of my life every day on that golf course," gave the women's golfers a hole-by-hole crash course on Karsten Creek.
"We have a team that the momentum is shifting our way and we're playing well and we're going to a golf course that we're going to know a lot about by the time we get there," Goble said. "I feel good about our chances. I think we're going to do well."
WACO, Texas -- Baylor women's golf is headed to Stillwater, Okla., for the 2018 NCAA Championship. The Bears qualified for their third NCAA Championship in the last four seasons and will play in consecutive NCAA Championships for the first time in program history.
The 24-team field will play three rounds of stroke play beginning Friday morning on the par-72, 6,328-yard course at Karsten Creek Golf Club. Following Sunday's third round, the top 15 teams will continue to a fourth round of stroke play on Monday.
The top eight teams after Monday's fourth round will advance to match play to determine the national champion. Quarterfinals and semifinals matches will be played Tuesday, and the national championship match is scheduled for Wednesday. Golf Channel will provide three days of live coverage from Monday's fourth round through Wednesday's national championship match.
No. 26 Baylor is the 20th-highest ranked team in the NCAA Championship field that includes the nation's top 10 teams and 17 of the top 20 squads according to the latest Golfstat rankings. BU will compete against No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Arkansas, No. 3 UCLA, No. 4 Duke, No. 5 Stanford, No. 6 USC, No. 7 Furman, No. 8 Texas, No. 9 Arizona, No. 10 Arizona State, No. 12 Florida, No. 13 Northwestern, No. 15 Washington, No. 16 Kent State, No. 18 Wake Forest, No. 19 Auburn, No. 20 Oklahoma, No. 21 Florida State, No. 25 Louisville, No. 27 Virginia, No. 28 Colorado, No. 34 Ole Miss and No. 37 Ohio State.
Baylor earned its trip to the 2018 NCAA Championship by tying for third place to claim one of six spots awarded at last week's NCAA Austin Regional. The Bears entered the final round in a four-way tie for fourth place, and three BU players became ill with a stomach virus before and during the round, including one who had to withdraw with 11 holes remaining. The Bears' four remaining players had to finish the round for BU to be eligible to advance, and they combined to post an even-par 288.
Baylor will use the same lineup as the NCAA Austin Regional. Freshman Diane Baillieux is back in the No. 1 spot, followed by freshman Gurleen Kaur, junior Maria Vesga, sophomore Fiona Liddell and senior Amy Lee.
Baylor is paired with Louisville and Virginia for the first two rounds. Those groups will begin from the 10th tee at 8:36 a.m. CT for Friday's first round and will tee off from No. 1 beginning at 1:21 p.m. for Saturday's second round. Third and fourth round tee times will be set based on standings entering those rounds. Lee has the Bears' first tee time on Friday at 8:36 a.m., and she'll be followed by Liddell at 8:47 a.m., Vesga at 8:58 a.m., Kaur at 9:09 a.m. and Baillieux at 9:20 a.m.
Lee enters her final collegiate tournament with a 73.11 career stroke average in two years at Baylor, which ranks second in program history behind only Hayley Davis' 73.00. Vesga is fifth in program history with a 74.56 stroke average over three seasons, and Liddell ranks eighth on Baylor's career list with a 75.05 stroke average in two years. Kaur's 74.00 stroke average would rank fourth and Baillieux's 74.56 would be tied for fifth in program history if they met the minimum number of 45 career rounds to qualify.
Head coach Jay Goble has led the Bears to four NCAA Championships and six NCAA Regionals in his seven seasons. The program has made five NCAA Championship appearances, qualifying in 2004, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2018, and the Bears were among eight teams to advance to match play in both 2015 and 2017.
Baylor is one of 13 teams returning to the NCAA Championship for a second consecutive season, joining Alabama, Arizona State, Duke, Florida, Florida State, Furman, Kent State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Stanford, Texas and USC.
Baylor is also one of seven schools with both its men's and women's golf programs returning to the NCAA Championship for a second consecutive season, joining Alabama, Arizona State, Duke, Kent State, Stanford and Texas.
Live scoring is available for each round in the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championship at www.Golfstat.com. Follow @BaylorWGolf Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for updates throughout the season.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP SEEDS (Golfstat Ranking)
1. Arkansas (No. 1)
2. Arkansas (No. 2)
3. UCLA (No. 3)
4. Duke (No. 4)
5. Stanford (No. 5)
6. USC (No. 6)
7. Furman (No. 7)
8. Texas (No. 8)
9. Arizona (No. 9)
10. Arizona State (No. 10)
11. Florida (No. 12)
12. Northwestern (No. 13)
13. Washington (No. 15)
14. Kent State (No. 16)
15. Wake Forest (No. 18)
16. Auburn (No. 19)
17. Oklahoma (No. 20)
18. Florida State (No. 21)
19. Louisville (No. 25)
20. Baylor (No. 26)
21. Virginia (No. 27)
22. Colorado (No. 28)
23. Ole Miss (No. 34)
24. Ohio State (No. 37)
Players Mentioned
