MGOLF Gets off to a Solid Start in Round One at The Morgan Hill Regional

Monday, May 15

Morgan Hill, Calif.

Baylor

NCAA Morgan Hill Regional

MGOLF Gets off to a Solid Start in Round One at The Morgan Hill Regional

5/15/2023 6:34:00 PM | Men's Golf

Round One Stats

BU shoots a 3-under 285 to sit in a tie for fourth on Monday

By: Matt Roberts

MORGAN HILL, Calif. – Tyler Isenhart led the Baylor men's golf team to a fourth-place tie after round one of the Morgan Hill Regional on Monday at the Institute Golf Club.

Isenhart's 3-under 69 is just two shots back of the individual lead and was one of three Baylor scores at par or better, joining Drew Wrightson's 1-under 71 and Johnny Keefer's even-par 72.

The Bears are nine shots back of first-round leader Mississippi State, but just seven shots separate spots No. 2-9. After Wednesday's final round, the top five teams will advance to the NCAA Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club next week. Missouri's Alfons Bondesson shot a 5-under 67 to pace the field on Monday.

THE RUNDOWN
First Round
Starting on the back nine, Isenhart carded an early birdie at No. 11 and added another at No. 14. His only bogey of the day came at No. 15, but he bounced back from it with a birdie at No. 16 to make the turn with a 2-under 34. The senior made his fourth birdie of the day at No. 3 before closing with six-straight pars to finish tied for fifth.

Wrightson continued his strong play, breaking par for the third time in his last four rounds with a 1-under 71. The sophomore made a pair of birdies at Nos. 11 and 14, before giving a shot back with a bogey at No. 15 for a 1-under 35 on his opening nine. Wrightson pushed his score to 3-under with two more birdies at Nos. 2 and 4, but made a pair of bogeys at No. 6 and No. 8 to finish the day in a tie for 19^th.

Keefer opened with bogeys at Nos. 10 and 13, around a birdie at No. 13 for a 1-over 37 on his outward nine. Turning to the front nine, Keefer made a birdie at No. 2 and another at No. 7 to get into red figures, with his final bogey coming at No. 8 to drop back to even par and in a tie for 27^th.

Zach Heffernan shot a 1-over 73 to finish the first round in a tie for 40^th. The sophomore made an opening bogey at No. 10, but responded with two birdies at Nos. 11 and 13 to get under par. A bogey at No. 18 saw him make the turn with an even-par 36. On the front side, Heffernan made just one bogey at No. 7 for a 1-over 37 and closed out his opening-round 73.

Luke Dossey finished tied for 40^th with a 3-over 75 on Monday. The senior started with a birdie at No. 10, before making a quadruple-bogey seven at No. 13 to drop to 3-over par. He responded with a birdie at No. 14, but closed his outward nine at 3-over with a bogey at No. 18. The Austin native closed strong, with nine-straight pars to play his final 14 holes at even par.

HIGHLIGHTS

Baylor's first-round 285 was its lowest postseason round since shooting a 277 in the final round of the Louisville Regional in 2019.
The Bears beat up the par fives on Monday, leading the field with a stroke average of 4.60.
BU tied for the third-most pars with 63 on Monday.
Tyler Isenhart's 3-under 69 is his lowest opening round this season and his lowest since a 3-under 69 at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate in 2020.
Isenhart led the field in par-5 scoring (4.25).
Drew Wrightson broke par for the third time in the last four rounds.
In the opening round, Zach Heffernan tied for the fifth-best par-3 scoring average (2.75).
Johnny Keefer shot his fourth round at par or better in seven career postseason rounds.
Only four players made more pars than Luke Dossey in the first round (14).

STAT OF THE DAY
Four of Baylor's five players made their postseason debut on Monday. Johnny Keefer is the only player with postseason experience prior to Monday.

WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears will tee off on No. 10 Tuesday in the second round, playing alongside Lousiville and NC State beginning at 10:00 a.m. CT. Luke Dossey will be first off, followed by Zach Heffernan at 10:11 a.m. Johnny Keefer tees off at 10:22 a.m., Drew Wrightson at 10:33 a.m., and Tyler Isenhart in the anchor position at 10:44 a.m.

Live scoring and stats are available at Golfstat.com. For more information on Baylor Men's Golf, follow @BaylorMGolf on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

—BaylorBears.com—