Friday, May 20
Scottsdale, Ariz. - Grayhawk GC
Baylor
at
NCAA Championship
No. 13 WGOLF Makes Return to the NCAA Championship
5/19/2022 12:51:00 PM | Women's Golf
BU makes fifth appearance in last six NCAA Championships
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
When Baylor women's golf captured the Stillwater Regional title a little over a week ago, the Bears made themselves at home at Karsten Creek Golf Club, winning by 14 shots.
Jay Goble is hoping similar course knowledge at Grayhawk Golf Club pays off in the NCAA Championship that begins Friday in Scottsdale, Ariz. Baylor finished 14th at last year's national tournament on the same course and played practice rounds at Grayhawk in two previous trips this year to Arizona.
"Everybody on our team has played at least two rounds of golf there, some of them upwards of 10 competitive rounds (at Grayhawk)," Goble said. "We're a different team, and we're a team that's peaking at the right time. And I believe those experiences from last year and from playing out there earlier this year are going to put us in a good place at the end of the week."
The tournament includes 72 holes of stroke play, with the top 15 teams advancing to Monday's final round and the top eight deciding the national championship in match play. In 2015, Baylor followed up a win at the San Antonio Regional with a runner-up finish to Stanford, losing on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff.
Fifth-year senior Gurleen Kaur, who shot 4-under-par 68 in the final round at Grayhawk last year to finish in the top 30, said "you've just got to be smart, take the par when you need to and optimize on the par-5s."
"There are two par-5s that you can go for, and it'll be hot," said Kaur, who has a 71.73-stroke average with seven top-10 finishes this season. "I think it's just expectation management, too. Saturday will be like 105 (degrees) in the afternoon and desert heat, so I think we just have to take it slowly and not set the bar super high from the very day, because it's a marathon."
Slow starts have hurt the Bears on their last two trips to the NCAA Championship. In 2018, they lost a playoff to get into match play after shooting 25-over in the first round. And then last year, they shot 20-over the first day and never really recovered.
"Every other year, we've kind of gotten off to a not so great start," said Kaur, who finished seventh individually at the 2018 tournament, "so I think we all want to get our 6:30 a.m. tee time rolling and go from there."
Paired with LSU and 10th-ranked UCLA, Baylor will be the first off the No. 10 tee box with Hannah Karg going first at 6:30 a.m. mountain time and 8:30 central. Florida transfer Addie Baggarly is next off at 6:41, followed by sophomores Rosie Belsham (6:52) and Britta Snyder (7:03) and Kaur (7:14).
"I really love our draw. We essentially have two morning rounds, which is great," Goble said. "It's great to be out there early, it's great to be out there before the wind starts blowing a lot. And it's really a good position for us to go out and post a score that people have to shoot for."
Belsham and Snyder, making return trips to nationals, are coming off a strong showing at the Stillwater Regional. They both closed with matching rounds of 1-under 71 and tied for second with Kaur at 2-under 214, just two shots behind individual medalist Maddison Hinchon-Tolchard of Oklahoma State.
"I think it's huge having an experienced team. It definitely helps boost the confidence and morale of the team," said Snyder, who is second on the team with a 72.64-stroke average and eight top-25 finishes. "We all know what to expect when we go out there. We're not going to be as star-struck as we might be, or even as I was last year."
Qualifying through six regionals, this is an elite field that includes 18 of the top-20 teams in the country, led by No. 1 Stanford. At the Ping/ASU Invitational two months ago, Baylor shot 2-under 862 and tied for third with Stanford, finishing behind only seventh-ranked host Arizona State and No. 2 Oregon.
"I believe that we're peaking at the right time," Goble said. "We've played our best golf the last six weeks or so. Last week's performance at Karsten Creek, a really difficult golf course, solidifies that in my opinion, that we are playing some great golf and we're ready to go to Grayhawk and play."
Live scoring for the tournament is available at NCAA Championship.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Baylor women's golf will make its sixth appearance at the NCAA Championship in Jay Goble's 11 seasons when the team tees off at Grayhawk Golf Club on Friday at 8:30 a.m. CT.
The Bears are fresh off a dominating performance at the Stillwater Regional, where they picked up the program's second postseason title with a 14-shot win at Karsten Creek Golf Club. The regional win was their first since 2015, the same year the Bears recorded the best NCAA Championship performance in program history, finishing second to Stanford.
The tournament is being held at Grayhawk Golf Club for a second-straight year, where BU notched a 14th-place finish in 2021. This will be Baylor's third tournament in the greater Phoenix area this semester after finishing second at the Desert Match Play in January and tied for third at the Thunderbird Collegiate in March. During those trips, they got a few looks at Grayhawk, so head coach Jay Goble knows that experience will be a feather in their cap.
"Everybody on our team has played at least two rounds of golf there, some of them upwards of 10 competitive rounds (at Grayhawk)," he said. "I think those experiences will do nothing but help us this year. We're a different team, and we're a team that's playing well and peaking at the right time. And I believe those experiences from last year and from playing out there earlier this year will put us in a good place at the end of the week."
One of those players with a lot of experience in the desert is senior Gurleen Kaur, who will be playing out of the No. 1 spot in her third and final trip to the NCAA's. The senior, who has played the most rounds in program history, finished tied for 7th at the 2018 National Championship as a freshman. Kaur feels right at home in another big-time event.
"I think it's just about expectation management," she said. "Saturday will be like 105 degrees in the afternoon, so I think we have to take it slowly and not set the bar super high from the very first day, because it's a marathon, and it's seven or eight rounds of golf."
Britta Snyder will play out of the No. 2 spot for the second-straight event, coming off a tie for second in Stillwater, matching a career-best finish. Last week was Snyder's first experience playing a regional after the Baton Rouge regional was rained out her freshman year. After a tie for second, Snyder feels more confident in returning to Grayhawk for a second-straight year.
"I think we were hurt a little last year not having regionals," she said. "We had that momentum going, and it kind of dipped not having regionals. Now, I think we're on the up and up after a strong regional performance, so we're really looking forward to that first tournament at Grayhawk."
Rosie Belsham also finished tied for 2nd with Snyder in Stillwater, helping the Bears to a ninth win in 24 events that those sophomores have started in the lineup. Playing out of the No. 3 spot, the sophomore has shot par or better in five of her last nine events.
Addie Baggarly will also be making her third start at an NCAA Championship and comes in with three-straight top-20 finishes, with two of those three being top-ten finishes.
Hannah Karg will play her third-straight event out of the No. 5 spot. The junior finished 79th in her debut at the NCAA Championship last season and enters with a career stroke average of 74.44, which currently ranks ninth in program history.
Karg will lead things off the No. 10 tee at 8:30 a.m. CT on Friday, followed by Baggarly at 8:41 a.m. Belsham will go at 8:52 a.m., just before Snyder at 9:03 a.m. Kaur will play out of the anchor position for the ninth time this season and will tee off at 9:14 a.m.
All teams will play three rounds of stroke play Friday-Sunday, at which time the field will be trimmed to 15 teams for the final round on Monday. After the fourth round, the top-eight teams will be paired for match play on Tuesday, where two match-play wins will put you in the National Championship match on Wednesday afternoon.
Live scoring will be available for each round in the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championship at Golfstat.com. Follow @BaylorWGolf on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for updates throughout the season.
Baylor Bear Insider
When Baylor women's golf captured the Stillwater Regional title a little over a week ago, the Bears made themselves at home at Karsten Creek Golf Club, winning by 14 shots.
Jay Goble is hoping similar course knowledge at Grayhawk Golf Club pays off in the NCAA Championship that begins Friday in Scottsdale, Ariz. Baylor finished 14th at last year's national tournament on the same course and played practice rounds at Grayhawk in two previous trips this year to Arizona.
"Everybody on our team has played at least two rounds of golf there, some of them upwards of 10 competitive rounds (at Grayhawk)," Goble said. "We're a different team, and we're a team that's peaking at the right time. And I believe those experiences from last year and from playing out there earlier this year are going to put us in a good place at the end of the week."
The tournament includes 72 holes of stroke play, with the top 15 teams advancing to Monday's final round and the top eight deciding the national championship in match play. In 2015, Baylor followed up a win at the San Antonio Regional with a runner-up finish to Stanford, losing on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff.
Fifth-year senior Gurleen Kaur, who shot 4-under-par 68 in the final round at Grayhawk last year to finish in the top 30, said "you've just got to be smart, take the par when you need to and optimize on the par-5s."
"There are two par-5s that you can go for, and it'll be hot," said Kaur, who has a 71.73-stroke average with seven top-10 finishes this season. "I think it's just expectation management, too. Saturday will be like 105 (degrees) in the afternoon and desert heat, so I think we just have to take it slowly and not set the bar super high from the very day, because it's a marathon."
Slow starts have hurt the Bears on their last two trips to the NCAA Championship. In 2018, they lost a playoff to get into match play after shooting 25-over in the first round. And then last year, they shot 20-over the first day and never really recovered.
"Every other year, we've kind of gotten off to a not so great start," said Kaur, who finished seventh individually at the 2018 tournament, "so I think we all want to get our 6:30 a.m. tee time rolling and go from there."
Paired with LSU and 10th-ranked UCLA, Baylor will be the first off the No. 10 tee box with Hannah Karg going first at 6:30 a.m. mountain time and 8:30 central. Florida transfer Addie Baggarly is next off at 6:41, followed by sophomores Rosie Belsham (6:52) and Britta Snyder (7:03) and Kaur (7:14).
"I really love our draw. We essentially have two morning rounds, which is great," Goble said. "It's great to be out there early, it's great to be out there before the wind starts blowing a lot. And it's really a good position for us to go out and post a score that people have to shoot for."
Belsham and Snyder, making return trips to nationals, are coming off a strong showing at the Stillwater Regional. They both closed with matching rounds of 1-under 71 and tied for second with Kaur at 2-under 214, just two shots behind individual medalist Maddison Hinchon-Tolchard of Oklahoma State.
"I think it's huge having an experienced team. It definitely helps boost the confidence and morale of the team," said Snyder, who is second on the team with a 72.64-stroke average and eight top-25 finishes. "We all know what to expect when we go out there. We're not going to be as star-struck as we might be, or even as I was last year."
Qualifying through six regionals, this is an elite field that includes 18 of the top-20 teams in the country, led by No. 1 Stanford. At the Ping/ASU Invitational two months ago, Baylor shot 2-under 862 and tied for third with Stanford, finishing behind only seventh-ranked host Arizona State and No. 2 Oregon.
"I believe that we're peaking at the right time," Goble said. "We've played our best golf the last six weeks or so. Last week's performance at Karsten Creek, a really difficult golf course, solidifies that in my opinion, that we are playing some great golf and we're ready to go to Grayhawk and play."
Live scoring for the tournament is available at NCAA Championship.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Baylor women's golf will make its sixth appearance at the NCAA Championship in Jay Goble's 11 seasons when the team tees off at Grayhawk Golf Club on Friday at 8:30 a.m. CT.
The Bears are fresh off a dominating performance at the Stillwater Regional, where they picked up the program's second postseason title with a 14-shot win at Karsten Creek Golf Club. The regional win was their first since 2015, the same year the Bears recorded the best NCAA Championship performance in program history, finishing second to Stanford.
The tournament is being held at Grayhawk Golf Club for a second-straight year, where BU notched a 14th-place finish in 2021. This will be Baylor's third tournament in the greater Phoenix area this semester after finishing second at the Desert Match Play in January and tied for third at the Thunderbird Collegiate in March. During those trips, they got a few looks at Grayhawk, so head coach Jay Goble knows that experience will be a feather in their cap.
"Everybody on our team has played at least two rounds of golf there, some of them upwards of 10 competitive rounds (at Grayhawk)," he said. "I think those experiences will do nothing but help us this year. We're a different team, and we're a team that's playing well and peaking at the right time. And I believe those experiences from last year and from playing out there earlier this year will put us in a good place at the end of the week."
One of those players with a lot of experience in the desert is senior Gurleen Kaur, who will be playing out of the No. 1 spot in her third and final trip to the NCAA's. The senior, who has played the most rounds in program history, finished tied for 7th at the 2018 National Championship as a freshman. Kaur feels right at home in another big-time event.
"I think it's just about expectation management," she said. "Saturday will be like 105 degrees in the afternoon, so I think we have to take it slowly and not set the bar super high from the very first day, because it's a marathon, and it's seven or eight rounds of golf."
Britta Snyder will play out of the No. 2 spot for the second-straight event, coming off a tie for second in Stillwater, matching a career-best finish. Last week was Snyder's first experience playing a regional after the Baton Rouge regional was rained out her freshman year. After a tie for second, Snyder feels more confident in returning to Grayhawk for a second-straight year.
"I think we were hurt a little last year not having regionals," she said. "We had that momentum going, and it kind of dipped not having regionals. Now, I think we're on the up and up after a strong regional performance, so we're really looking forward to that first tournament at Grayhawk."
Rosie Belsham also finished tied for 2nd with Snyder in Stillwater, helping the Bears to a ninth win in 24 events that those sophomores have started in the lineup. Playing out of the No. 3 spot, the sophomore has shot par or better in five of her last nine events.
Addie Baggarly will also be making her third start at an NCAA Championship and comes in with three-straight top-20 finishes, with two of those three being top-ten finishes.
Hannah Karg will play her third-straight event out of the No. 5 spot. The junior finished 79th in her debut at the NCAA Championship last season and enters with a career stroke average of 74.44, which currently ranks ninth in program history.
Karg will lead things off the No. 10 tee at 8:30 a.m. CT on Friday, followed by Baggarly at 8:41 a.m. Belsham will go at 8:52 a.m., just before Snyder at 9:03 a.m. Kaur will play out of the anchor position for the ninth time this season and will tee off at 9:14 a.m.
All teams will play three rounds of stroke play Friday-Sunday, at which time the field will be trimmed to 15 teams for the final round on Monday. After the fourth round, the top-eight teams will be paired for match play on Tuesday, where two match-play wins will put you in the National Championship match on Wednesday afternoon.
Live scoring will be available for each round in the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championship at Golfstat.com. Follow @BaylorWGolf on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for updates throughout the season.
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