MGOLF Primed for its Return to the Postseason

Monday, May 15

Morgan Hill, Calif.

Baylor

NCAA Morgan Hill Regional

MGOLF Primed for its Return to the Postseason

5/14/2023 9:53:00 AM | Men's Golf

The Bears will open the Morgan Hill Regional on Monday morning

By: Matt Roberts

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            In 25 years as an NCAA Division I college golf coach, including the last nine at Baylor, Mike McGraw has been on most of the premier golf courses in the U.S.
            But The Institute Golf Club, site of the 13-team NCAA regional where the Baylor men begin play Monday, is so exclusive that it's hard to find someone who's even played the 7,500-yard layout in Morgan Hill, Calif.
            "I never thought I would find a golf course that's more exclusive than Cypress Point, Pine Valley or Augusta National," McGraw said. "This only has 35 members, so no members at all, and they're hosting a tournament like this for the first time."
            Measured at just shy of 8,000 yards from the back tees, the Neal Meagher-designed course is believed to be the longest golf course in California. Electronics millionaire John Fry built the course with the goal of hosting a major championship, and former PGA pro Roger Maltbie said it is "certainly capable of hosting something big."
            Before Sunday's practice round, McGraw and associate head coach Mikkel Bjerch-Andresen got a detailed tutorial of the course from a "guy who's caddied or played it over 40 times."
            Going through the whole course with the Stracke yardage book and "some photos he sent us, that was really helpful," McGraw said. "At least we're not going out there completely blind. But nobody's got a home-course advantage. That's a beautiful thing."
            Baylor is seeded sixth in the 13-team regional led by sixth-ranked Pepperdine and No. 7 Florida State. Mississippi State is the No. 3 seed, followed by Arizona, Louisville, Baylor, Missouri, BYU, North Carolina State, California, Charlotte, Grand Canyon and Northern Colorado.
            McGraw said the NCAA regional "should be the easiest tournaments to play, if you know you don't have to do anything special." Ranked 31^st by Golfstat, Baylor is trying to be one of the five teams advancing to the NCAA Championships May 26-30 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.
            "Your good golf is good enough this time of the year, and good golf travels," McGraw said. "It does well in Waco and it does well in Morgan Hill, California, at a golf course we've never seen. Good golf is good golf. So, if you can take your golf, the way you found it this week and you get the best out of it you can this week, it's good enough."
            Coming off a sixth-place finish at the Big 12 Championships, Baylor is led by senior Johnny Keefer with a 71.47-stroke average and seven top-25 finishes in the 10 tournaments he's played this year. Playing out of the No. 2 spot, sophomore Drew Wrightson has a 72.19-stroke average and tied for sixth at the Big 12 tournament.
            "Just proud of the way I battled that week at Prairie Dunes and just ready to build off that," Wrightson said. "I feel solid, a lot of confidence coming after that. A top-six finish in that field is great. I'll take that anytime. Obviously, you want to win, but going to ride on that and got some momentum going into postseason."
            The No. 3 spot is the highest-ever for sophomore Zach Heffernan, who tied for 30^th at the Big 12 tournament and comes in averaging 72.93 strokes per round. Seniors Luke Dossey and Tyler Isenhart round out the lineup, with junior Trey Bosco going as the alternate.
            "We've kind of struggled with just everyone playing well at the same time," said Dossey, who has a 72.37-stroke average with three top-10 finishes. "Everyone's had a great tournament this semester. I think it's just about time that we all do it at once. . . . I think everyone took at least some sort of positive from Prairie Dunes. I didn't have my best tournament, but played solid the last day. I think we're all trending."
            Paired with Arizona and Louisville and starting on the back nine in Monday's first round, Baylor will have tee times beginning at 10 a.m. CT off the No. 10 tee. Live scoring is available at Morgan Hill Regional.
            "We were talking about it, our favorite courses that we've played, and all of them are really tough," Dossey said, "whether it's a Pinehurst, whether it's a Prairie Dunes. All of them are really tough tracks. So, I think we will be ready to go on a really tough track."

MORGAN HILL, Calif. – Sixth-seeded Baylor men's golf opens its postseason run on Monday morning when it tees off in the Morgan Hill Regional at The Institute Golf Club in Morgan Hill, Calif.

Head coach Mike McGraw leads Baylor into the postseason for the 24^th time in the last 25 seasons, but the Bears will be facing a relatively unknown course in The Institute, one of the most exclusive clubs in the country.

"I never thought I would find a golf course more exclusive than Cypress Point, Pine Valley or Augusta National," McGraw said. "This club only has 35 members, and they're hosting a tournament like this for the first time, so you don't know how they will set it up. Coach Mikkel [Bjerch-Andresen] and I did a tutorial with a guy who has caddied or played it over 40 times, and he went through the whole golf course, which was really helpful. So we're not going in blind."

Johnny Keefer will play at the No. 1 position for the 22^nd-straight event, dating back to last season. The senior will be making his third appearance in the postseason after finishing tied for 11^th last season as an individual in the Norman Regional.

Drew Wrightson will play at No. 2 for the fifth-straight event. The sophomore is coming off one of the best performances of his career when he finished tied for sixth at the Big 12 Championship. In February, Wrightson finished tied for 5^th in the Golden State at the Prestige in Palm Springs, Calif.

"We're excited to get back to California," Wrightson said. "It looks like we're going to play a great golf course, and I feel like we're playing pretty well."

Tyler Isenhart will play at No. 3 this week. The senior enters the postseason coming off a tie for 30^th at the Big 12 Championship, highlighted by a final-round 68.

Luke Dossey will play at No. 4 this week, and after a solid final round at the Big 12 Championship, the sophomore feels like the whole team is heading in the right direction.

"I think everyone took some sort of positive from Prairie Dunes," he said. "I didn't have my best tournament, but I played solid on the last day. I think we're all trending, and we've been trending for a while now, so I'm really looking forward to regionals.

Zach Heffernan will play at No. 5 this week, his highest-ever position in the lineup. The sophomore heads into Morgan Hill on the heels of a tie for 30^th at the Big 12 Championship in April.

The Bears will open play on Monday morning at 10 a.m. on the No. 10 tee. Once available, tee times, live scoring and stats can be found at Golfstat.com. For more information on Baylor Men's Golf, follow @BaylorMGolf on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

www.BaylorBears.com