Baylor
NCAA Regionals
Women's Golf Remains T-Fourth at NCAA Austin Regional
5/8/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
NCAA Austin Regional Day Two Results and Statistics 
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
€‹AUSTIN, Texas - In a 54-hole tournament, the keys are not shooting your way out of it on the first day, then putting yourself in position on Day 2. €‹Check and check.
€‹Recovering from a rough start, the Baylor women's golf team shot 3-under on the back nine and 5-over 293 for the day to remain in a tie for fourth in the NCAA Austin Regional after Tuesday's windy second round at the University of Texas Golf Club. €‹
With the top six teams advancing to the NCAA Championship May 18-23 in Stillwater, Okla., the Bears are tied with No. 21 Oklahoma, 38th-ranked Texas A&M and Virginia Tech at 5-over 581 going into Wednesday's final round. Including Auburn (7-over 583), 11th-ranked Michigan State (11-over 587) and No. 41 BYU (11-over 587), there are seven teams within six shots of the current cut line at 5-over.
€‹"All you're trying to do out here these first couple days is just get to a point where you're getting in a position to make nationals," Baylor coach Jay Goble said. "They fought really hard on the back nine again. It's a really great thing to see is they're not letting the bogeys or the bad shots or bad breaks discourage them. They're just playing their games and understand that bogeys happen sometimes. You can go out there and make a birdie on the next hole."
€‹Midway through the second round, the Bears had dropped to 10th at 9-over, with the four scoring golfers shooting a combined 4-over on holes No. 6 and 7.
€‹Tied for second after an opening round of 3-under-par 69, freshman Gurleen Kaur was 4-over through the first eight holes, with bogeys on Nos. 1, 6 and 8 and a double-bogey on the par-4 fourth hole.
€‹"I started off really weird. I couldn't hit my driver to save my life," said Kaur, a first-semester freshman who graduated from high school in December. "I was mad, because it wasn't that I was playing that bad, I just couldn't hit the ball on the tee. Normally, if I make a bogey, it's because I'll miss my approach shot or something. I don't usually have problems with my driver, I'm always in the fairway. On the back nine, I was like, `OK, it's time to get something going.'''
€‹Goble said Kaur uses her anger and frustration as "fuel to play better."
€‹That's exactly what happened on the back nine, starting at No. 10 when she rolled in a breaking 25-footer for just her second birdie of the day.
€‹"I did not expect that to go in," she said. "I played it right edge, and it was right in the center, so I was really happy. Then, I had a birdie on 11 as well, which was good, and another birdie on 14. I tried to make another one coming in, but I missed the green at 15, 16 and 17. Otherwise, it was a good back nine."
€‹Shooting 3-under 33 on the back, Kaur carded a 1-over 73 and moved back into the top 10 in a tie for eighth at 2-under 142.
€‹"For a first-semester freshman, she's doing amazing," Goble said. "She's just a great player. I know she was frustrated through the first seven or eight holes. But one thing about her is she's a fighter and she lets that disappointment encourage her to do good."
€‹As a team, Baylor put it together over the closing stretch, with all five golfers combining to post just one bogey over the last six holes.
€‹Sophomore Fiona Liddell had the Bears' best round of the day, sinking birdies on two of the last five holes and shooting 1-under 71 to move up to a tie for 29th at 2-over 146.
€‹"I played really well," Liddell said. "I played well yesterday, I just couldn't really score. I couldn't quite get it in the hole. Today, it was a fight out there, it was hard. The holes played differently, the wind was swirling around. But, I was really proud of myself. I kept it all together and made some good putts coming in."
€‹Freshman Diane Baillieux shot even-par on the back nine, offsetting a bogey on 12 with a birdie on the par-5 14th, and had a scoring round of 2-over 74 to move up 17 spots to a tie for 53rd at 7-over 151. Junior Maria Vesga had Baylor's other counting score at 3-over 75 and is tied for 34th at 3-over 147, while senior Amy Lee had a triple-bogey in a round of 4-over 76 and is tied for 39th at 4-over 148.
€‹Goble said Liddell is "trending in the right direction" after putting in a ton of work this semester in a "process to get her to this point."
€‹"She's come to play, and she's come to play at the right time," he said.
€‹With assistant coach Ryan Ashburn coming down with a stomach virus that has affected several golfers, including three of East Carolina's five players, volunteer coach and former Baylor player Maggie Beth Byers (2013-17) filled in and helped on the course in Tuesday's round.
€‹"I don't want to be too hands-on," Byers said. "I'm not with them every day, I'm not with them every tournament. When they ask for help, I'm always there. It was just kind of stepping in if anyone needed me, but I didn't want to be too much in anybody's face or anything."
€‹Baylor, which trails only third-ranked Arkansas (21-under 555), eighth-ranked Texas (10-under 566) and No. 14 Florida (2-over 578), is paired with Virginia Tech and Oklahoma for Wednesday's final round with tee times beginning at 9 a.m. off No. 1.
€‹"We know this golf course, we know where we need to hit it," Goble said. "We're going to stay with our process and just hit one shot at a time. I feel good about this team and I feel good about our chances."
€‹Live scoring is available at www.golfstat.com.
THE RUNDOWN
AUSTIN, Texas -- Baylor women's golf remained tied for fourth place after shooting 5-over-par 293 in Tuesday's second round of the NCAA Austin Regional at UT Golf Club. The Bears have a 36-hole total of 5-over, which places them in a four-way tie entering Wednesday's final round, after which the top six teams will advance to the NCAA Championship.
BU fell as far as 10th place at 9-over midway through the second round, but the Bears fought back and shot 3-under on the back-nine to climb six spots on the leaderboard. BU's five golfers combined to post only one bogey over the final six holes, and they made five birdies in that stretch to make the late run. Baylor (+5) trails only No. 3 Arkansas (-21), No. 8 Texas (-10) and No. 14 Florida (+2). The Bears are tied with No. 21 Oklahoma (+5), No. 38 Texas A&M (+5) and Virginia Tech (+5).
There are seven teams within six strokes of the current score of 5-over needed to advance to the NCAA Championship, and through 36 holes only three of those seven teams are positioned to move on. In addition to the four teams tied for fourth place at 5-over, No. 19 Auburn (+7), No. 11 Michigan State (+11) and No. 41 BYU (+11) are all within six strokes of the current cut.
UTSA (+17) is in 11th place, followed by No. 25 Houston (+21), No. 49 Texas Tech (+23), Houston Baptist (+25), No. 30 Miami (+28), Georgetown (+30) and Missouri State (+62). No. 48 East Carolina was disqualified after only two of their five players were able to compete on Tuesday. Three ECU players and one Miami golfer were forced to sit out due to illness, along with numerous coaches including Baylor assistant coach Ryan Ashburn. BU volunteer assistant coach Maggie Beth Byers stepped in as the Bears' second on-course coach.
Sophomore Fiona Liddell led the Bears with a 1-under 71 on Tuesday. She was 1-over through 10 holes but came in with birdies on Nos. 14 and 17 and six pars, placing her in a tie for 29th place at 2-over 146 through two rounds.
Freshman Gurleen Kaur recovered from shooting 4-over on the front-nine to post three birdies and six pars on the back-nine on her way to a 1-over 73. Kaur made birdies on Nos. 10, 11 and 13, and sank pars over her final five holes to finish the day tied for eighth place at 2-under 142.
Freshman Diane Baillieux shot even-par on the back-nine to card a 2-over 74, which moved her into a tie for 53rd place at 7-over 151. Junior Maria Vesga posted the Bears' final counting score with a 3-over 75 to move into a tie for 34th place at 3-over 147. Senior Amy Lee shot 4-over 76 and is tied for 39th place at 4-over 148.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Baylor ranks second in the 18-team field in par-5 scoring at 5-under 4.88.
• The Bears are fourth in par-4 scoring at 14-over 4.14 and sixth in par-3 scoring at 5-over 3.13.
• BU's 119 pars across two rounds are tied for third-most in the field, and the Bears are tied for fourth with 27 birdies.
• Fiona Liddell and Maria Vesga are tied for fourth in the 96-player field in par-3 scoring at 1-under 2.88.
• Gurleen Kaur and Amy Lee are tied for 13th in par-4 scoring at even-par 4.00.
• Kaur is tied for eighth in par-5 scoring at 3-under 4.63.
• Diane Baillieux is tied for 12th in par-5 scoring at 2-under 4.75.
• Kaur leads the team and is tied for 10th in the field with seven birdies.
• Five of Kaur's birdies have been on the back-nine, and she's made par on the remaining 13 holes to shoot a combined 5-under on the back-nine across two rounds.
STAT OF THE DAY
1 -- Baylor's five golfers combined to record only one bogey over the final six holes, which helped them rebound from falling to 10th place and climb six spots into a tie for fourth place. The Bears made five birdies in the final six-hole stretch, including two from Fiona Liddell and one apiece from Diane Baillieux, Gurleen Kaur and Amy Lee.
TOP QUOTE I
"All you're trying to do out here these first couple of days is just get to a point where you're getting in position to have a chance to make nationals, and we're in position to make the low six," head coach Jay Goble said. "They fought really hard again on the back-nine, and it's a really great thing to see them not let the bogeys or the bad shots discourage them. They're just playing their games, and they understand that bogeys happen sometimes, and you can go out there and make a birdie on the next hole."
TOP QUOTE II
"I played well yesterday, I just couldn't really score it and get it in the hole, but today was a fight out there," Fiona Liddell said. "The holes played differently, the wind was kind of swirling around, but I was really proud of myself. I kept it all together, made some good putts coming in, and I'm really happy that today was a good day."
TOP QUOTE III
"Jay called me and said, `Ryan (Ashburn) is sick, can you coach?' So it was fun," volunteer assistant coach Maggie Beth Byers said. "I don't want to be too hands-on, since I'm not with them every day or every tournament, but when they ask for help I'm always there. If anyone needed me I was happy to step in, but I didn't want to be too much in anyone's face."
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor is paired with Virginia Tech and Oklahoma for Wednesday's final round. Those pairings will begin from the first tee at 9:00 a.m. CT. Baillieux is up first for Baylor at 9:00 a.m., and she'll be followed in 10-minute intervals by Lee, Vesga, Liddell and Kaur, respectively. Live scoring is available at www.golfstat.com. Follow @BaylorWGolf on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for updates throughout the season.
Players Mentioned
