(This is the 1st in a series of profile features on the 2019 Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame inductees and Wall of Honor recipients that will be posted every Thursday.)
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
If not for a case of nerves, Ryan Baca might have ended up with
Mike McGraw at Oklahoma State.
"I was pretty nervous when he came out, and I either topped one or chunked one when I was in high school," said Baca, who was a three-time all-state pick at Lamar Consolidated High School in Rosenberg, Texas.
Instead, Baca picked Baylor over Texas and Texas A&M and became the program's first first-team All-American as a senior in 2006, when he won three individual tournament titles and had a 70.59-stroke average that stood as the school single-season record for nine years.
Thirteen years later, Baca becomes the fourth men's golfer in school history to be elected to the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame. As part of the 2019 class that will be inducted Nov. 22 at the Hall of Fame banquet, Baca joins an elite list of golfers that includes Johnny Arreaga (1958-60), Tim Hobby (1987-90) and Jimmy Walker (1998-2001).
"I was shocked, because I had a good career, but I didn't know it was Hall of Fame-worthy," said Baca, who ranks first in top-10 finishes (27), second in top five (18) and third in career scoring average (71.91). "I was very humbled to get the call. I've worked my whole life to be the best I can at the game, so I was very proud at hearing the news."
Hobby actually recruited Baca to Baylor and coached him his first two seasons, but not before he said no to Greg Priest twice, once as the head coach at Sam Houston State and then as an assistant at Texas. Baca finished his Baylor career playing his last three years under Priest.
Coming from a small town like Richmond, Baca said Baylor was the "perfect fit."
"I got recruited by quite a few schools," he said, "but I knew I never wanted to leave the state of Texas. It was between A&M, Texas and Baylor, and when I came to Baylor it was just the perfect with the guys that were there, the small town and the perfect school for me. It really worked out well."
Thrust into the fire as a first-semester freshman, Baca won the first of his six collegiate titles at the Wolverine Invitational that fall and then helped Baylor earn its first NCAA Championship berth under the current format with a top-10 finish at the regional in Little Rock, Ark.
"Jumping right into the fire like that, it was pretty difficult. I don't think I was quite ready for it," said Baca, who had a 73.0-stroke average as a freshman. "We played Ohio State's golf course, and I just remember it being very difficult. I know we didn't do too hot (19
th), but it was a great experience getting that in my freshman year. It was a little disappointing that we didn't ever make it back, but it was a fun time."
Coming off a strong freshman campaign, Baca won the Texas State Amateur Championship that summer. Tying for first at 16-under-par 272, he beat Oklahoma's Martin Flores with a birdie on the second playoff hole. Repeating the next year, Baca became one of just two back-to-back champions in tournament history, joining Scott Verplank.
After leading the team in scoring average as both a sophomore (71.76) and junior (72.95), Baca took a medical redshirt in 2004-05.
"I rarely take a day off from golf," he said. "So, having to take that much time off was definitely eye-opening and really showed me how much I enjoy playing the game and practicing the game. It kind of got me fired up that next summer and going into my senior year."
It showed. A semifinalist for the Ben Hogan Award (national player of the year), Baca won three individual titles. That included an 11-stroke victory at the UTSA Intercollegiate, when he fired a still program-record 54-hole total of 199 and earned national player of the week honors from Golf World.
"I think we started off fairly slow, but the group of guys my senior year were just a blast," he said. "We always had fun traveling to tournaments. Everyone was just pushing one another to be better every week. We got on a great run in the middle of the year. That last year was a lot of fun."
It carried over to the summer, with Baca qualifying for the U.S. Open and earning a spot on the USA team for the Palmer Cup in Prestwick, Scotland.
"Representing the USA was a great honor," Baca said. "And the guys on that were on that team, a bunch of them are on the PGA Tour now. Going over to Scotland and being able to play a links course was an amazing experience."
Making it to the PGA Tour has been Baca's dream "since I quit baseball when I was probably 12 or 13 years old." And even at 36 years old, he's still dreaming.
"It's all I've wanted to do," said Baca, who's had a couple top-10 finishes this year and ranks 33
rd on the money-winning list on the PGA Latin America Tour. "I still enjoy the grind. Not so much the travel, but I enjoy going out there every day and trying to get better."
Baca leaves on Sunday for a three-week run of tournaments in Brazil. Sandwiched between the Hall of Fame banquet, he will compete at a tournament in Argentina Nov. 14-17 and then the PGA Latin America Tour Championship Dec. 5-8 in Miami.
"Other guys from college have made it, so I know it's attainable," he said. "It's just tough going from college golf where you're traveling as a team, to all of a sudden you're having to make your own schedule. Especially if you don't have status right away, you're just playing in mini-tour events. It's a grind."
Now living in Sugar Land, in the Houston area, Baca came back for a golf reunion last winter and has made it out to the Billy Williams Golf Practice Facility on invitations from McGraw, the current Baylor golf coach.
"I haven't seen too many (collegiate golf practice facilities), but there can't be any that are any better than that," Baca said. "Luckily, Coach McGraw invites us out there to practice whenever we need to, when we're coming through town. That place is amazing. We had a great facility in Bear Ridge when it first opened, but that practice facility is something special."
Baca is part of the 2019 Hall of Fame class that includes football's Steve Beaird, John Adickes and Robin Jones, softball's Lisa Ferguson, baseball's Josh Ford, men's basketball player Curtis Jerrells and former track & field All-American Lauren Hagans Paquette. Additionally, Mark Hurd and Jody Conradt will be added to the Wall of Honor.
The Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame banquet will be held at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 22, in the Brazos Room at the Waco Convention Center. Tickets cost $50 per person, with table sponsorships also available for $600 (green) and $800 (gold), and can be purchased by contacting the "B" Association at 254-710-3045 or by email at
Tammy_Hardin@baylor.edu.
