Baylor
NCAA Regionals
Sick Finish: Women's Golf Punches Ticket to Nationals
5/9/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
NCAA Austin Regional Final Results and Statistics 
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
This was not the way Jay Goble and the Baylor women's golf team wanted to go out.
But, with two of his five players making a hospital emergency room trip in the middle of the night before Wednesday's final round, "I would be lying if I didn't say my first thought was that we were going to have to forfeit today and that we were not going to have a chance to go because two of our players weren't going to be able to finish," the Baylor coach said.
From 3 a.m. until freshman Diane Baillieux teed off at 9 a.m. at the University of Texas Golf Club in Austin, "that was about the only thing I was thinking about. Frustration starts to kick in, because you think that they don't deserve this. They don't deserve to finally be playing their best golf at the end of the year and not get a chance to go to nationals because of a stupid 24-hour bug."
That was exactly the fate facing the Bears as junior Maria Vesga was forced to withdraw after seven holes and then sophomore Fiona Liddell started feeling the effects of the virus at about the same time. Baillieux, who made the ER visit with Vesga and got back to the hotel at 6 a.m., said she "started to become whiter and whiter" as she made the turn to the back nine.
At one point, Goble told his freshman golfer, "Hey, if you've got to go in, nobody's going to be mad at you." With all the determination she could muster, Baillieux said, "I will never quit!"
Not only did Baillieux not quit, she carded an even-par 72 and helped the 35th-ranked Baylor women advance to the NCAA Championship for the third time in four years. The Bears shot even-par 288 for the day and tied for third with 14th-ranked Florida and No. 19 Auburn at 5-over 869.
"I think my team is underestimated a lot," Goble said. "But, I think they're fighters and they're good at golf. They know what they're doing, and they got the job done today."
Top-seeded and third-ranked Arkansas (26-under 838) won the team title by 11 shots over the eighth-ranked host Texas team (15-under 849), with No. 21 Oklahoma (6-over 870) claiming the sixth and final qualifying spot for the NCAA Championship May 18-23 at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla.
"Second place at Big 12, the way we played this week, I think we might be scaring some people," Goble said. "I love the postseason scare. This is when it all counts. And man, they're good. We have a really good team this year. I'd hate to have us in match play, I can tell you that."
The Baylor coach stuck with Baillieux for all 18 holes "to make sure that I was OK and to focus on every shot," she said.
"I was doing OK in the beginning, and then on 9, 10, 11, I started to become whiter and whiter. And then on 13, I thought I would stop playing. But, I knew that (Vesga) was already out. Jay was like, `You can do it! You can do it!' And finally, I did it."
Miraculously, even with Baillieux and Liddell both battling through the stomach virus, the Bears shot 1-under on the last six holes.
"For Fiona to start feeling bad the middle of the first nine and have to stay out on the golf course and gut out pars for three more hours is really hard to do," Goble said. "And she did it. That showed a lot of guts as well."
This was definitely a team effort. Senior Amy Lee overcame a double-bogey at No. 9 and made five birdies to shoot 1-under 71 and move up into the top 25 at 3-over 219, while first-semester freshman Gurleen Kaur capped off her week with a 71 and tied for 12th at 3-under 213.
"To see Diane go out and do what she did today - it was probably the hardest day of the week and she shot even-par," Goble said. "And then Gurleen, our other freshman, has just been a superstar this week. Those two are playing their best golf of the year right now, and it couldn't come at a better time. I'm really happy for them, but I'm happy for everyone.
"Amy Lee played an awesome round of golf today. She shot 1-under par. She's been off and on with her game all year. But, she played like the Amy Lee that we know and love today, which was great."
Liddell had the final scoring round for the Bears at 2-over 74 and tied for 29th at 4-over 220, one shot behind Lee, while Baillieux moved up 11 spots to tie for 42nd at 7-over 223.
"On this team, nobody wants to lose, everybody wants to win," Baillieux said. "I think we are ready to make nationals a good tournament. I know that Baylor has lost every time to Stanford (in NCAA Championship match play). So, if we play them again, we're going to try to kick their butt."
THE RUNDOWN
AUSTIN, Texas -- Three Baylor women's golfers came down with a virus, including one who was forced to withdraw from the final round after seven holes, but that didn't stop the Bears from punching their ticket to the NCAA Championship for a third time in the last four seasons.
Baylor's four remaining players combined to shoot even-par 288 in Wednesday's final round of the NCAA Austin Regional, finishing tied for third place with a 54-hole total of 5-over 869 at University of Texas Golf Club. Despite entering the regional as the No. 9 seed and ranked No. 35 nationally, BU earned a berth at the 24-team national championship for the fifth time in program history.
The Bears (+5) placed behind only No. 3 Arkansas (-26) and tournament-host No. 8 Texas (-15). BU tied No. 14 Florida (+5) and No. 19 Auburn (+5), while No. 21 Oklahoma (+6) picked up the sixth NCAA Championship berth awarded in Austin.
BU also finished in front of 12 non-advancing teams: No. 38 Texas A&M (+14), No. 11 Michigan State (+18), No. 41 BYU (+21), Virginia Tech (+24), No. 25 Houston (+26), UTSA (+28), No. 49 Texas Tech (+35), Houston Baptist (+46), No. 30 Miami (+50), Georgetown (+53), Missouri State (+53) and East Carolina (DNF).
Baylor freshman Diane Baillieux and junior Maria Vesga both went to the emergency room early Wednesday morning with symptoms from a virus that was spreading through the Austin Regional. Vesga was able to make it through seven holes at 2-over before she withdrew. The team needed all remaining players to finish the round to be eligible to advance to nationals, Baillieux fought through 18 holes and carded an even-par 72 to finish in a tie for 42nd place at 7-over 223.
Freshman Gurleen Kaur shot 1-under 71 and finished tied for 12th place at 3-under 216, while senior Amy Lee also carded a 1-under 71 to tie for 24th place at 3-over 219. Sophomore Fiona Liddell became sick during the round, but she battled through to the finish and posted a 2-over 74 to finish tied for 29th place at 4-over 220.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Baylor advanced to the NCAA Championship for the fifth time in program history (2004, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2018).
• Baylor's tie for third place was the second-best NCAA Regional finish in program history behind only the 2015 San Antonio Regional title.
• BU finished second in the 18-team field in par-5 scoring at 10-under 4.82.
• Baylor finished third in par-4 scoring at 17-over 4.12 and eighth in par-3 scoring at 7-over 3.13.
• Baylor's 41 birdies were third-most in the field.
• Gurleen Kaur tied for sixth in the 96-player field in par-5 scoring at 4-under 4.67.
• Kaur also led the team and tied for fourth in the tournament with 11 birdies.
• Kaur and Amy Lee tied for 13th in par-4 scoring at even-par 4.00.
• Lee tied for ninth in the field with 10 birdies.
• Fiona Liddell tied for 15th in par-3 scoring at even-par 3.00.
• Kaur played bogey-free on the back-nine all week before posting a birdie on her final hole. By then, the Bears had wrapped up an NCAA Championship berth.
STAT OF THE DAY
1-under -- with pressure building due to one player withdrawing and a spot in the NCAA Championship on the line, Baylor played the final six holes at a combined 1-under par. Fiona Liddell closed with six consecutive pars, Amy Lee finished with five pars and a birdie, and Diane Baillieux and Gurleen Kaur each made four pars, one birdie and one bogey.
TOP QUOTE I
"It's hard to put into words, because at 6 o'clock this morning I would be lying if I didn't say my first thought was that we were going to have to forfeit today and that we were not going to have a chance to go, because two of our players weren't going to be able to finish," head coach Jay Goble said. "From 3 o'clock in the morning until we got to the tee, that was about the only thing I was thinking about that was going to happen. Frustration starts to kick in, because you think that they don't deserve this. They don't deserve to finally be playing their best golf at the end of the year and not get a chance to go to nationals because of a stupid 24-hour bug that's going around. But now, to see Diane (Baillieux) go out and do what she did today -- it was probably the hardest day of the week, and she shot even-par. And Gurleen (Kaur), our other freshman, has just been a superstar this week. Those two are playing their best golf of the year right now, and it couldn't come at a better time. And to know that we've got them for three more years is pretty spectacular. Really happy for them, but again I'm happy for everyone. Amy Lee played an awesome round of golf today. She shot 1-under-par. She's been on and off with her game all year. And she played like the Amy Lee that we know and love today, which was great. Fiona (Liddell), for her to start feeling bad the middle of the round and have to stay out on the golf course and gut out pars for three more hours is really hard to do. And she did it. That showed a lot of guts as well."
TOP QUOTE II
"Jay (Goble) stayed with me all 18 holes to make sure that I was OK and to focus on every shot," Diane Baillieux said. "I was doing OK in the beginning, and then on No. 9 and 10, I started to become whiter and whiter. And then on No. 13, I thought I would stop playing. But I knew that (Maria Vesga) was already out. Jay was like, `You can do it! You can do it!' And finally, I did it."
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor has secured one of 24 spots in the 2018 NCAA Women's Golf Championship, which runs May 18-23 at Karsten Creek in Stillwater, Okla. Teams will play four rounds of stroke play to narrow the field to the eight teams that will square off in match play to determine the national champion. The final round of stroke play on May 21 and all rounds of match play May 22-23 will be televised on Golf Channel. Live scoring is available at www.golfstat.com. Follow @BaylorWGolf on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for updates throughout the season.
Players Mentioned
