EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS
5/16/2025 1:29:00 AM | Women's Golf
WGOLF seeded 28th for NCAA Championships that begin Friday
By Jerry Hill
BaylorBears.com
CARLSBAD, Calif. – As crazy as it sounds, Jay Goble believes his 2025 Baylor women's golf team is "every bit as talented as any team that I've coached before," which includes a 2015 group that finished the season as the NCAA runners-up.
"In fact, I would say we have more depth on the back end of our lineup than we've had in the past, when we made match play," said Goble, whose team defied all odds by qualifying for its fifth-straight NCAA Championship with a fifth-place showing at last week's NCAA Norman Regional.
"We have Malena Castro playing 5 for us this week. She's a one-semester freshman who's ranked top 200 (amateurs) in the world. She's going to be an amazing player for us, but she's just now getting in her groove, just now getting the flow of this college golf thing and understanding how everything works. I see her confidence building every day."
Remember, this is a Baylor team that qualified for postseason by the skin of its teeth, finishing 11th at the Big 12 Championship and narrowly eligible with a .500 record (67-67-3). If the Bears had shot three shots worse at the Big 12 tournament, they wouldn't have even got into a regional.
"Honestly, I think the reason we didn't play well at the end of the year is we were thinking about the stupid .500 rule," Goble said. "We were playing tight, and we were trying to force things and not just taking care of our own business and playing golf like we know how to do it. But we're a different team than we were a month ago."
Putting it together at the right time, Baylor "got a little magic going" in the Norman Regional and finished fifth in the 13-team field with a 3-over-par 867, 12 shots ahead of sixth-place Tulsa.
"It wasn't like something we all expected necessarily," said junior Silje Ohma, who finished fourth individually at 5-under 211, just three shots behind medalist Andrea Revuelta of Stanford, "but we were all super focused and had it in the back of our minds that that was the goal. And now, we're all relieved and excited to go to nationals."
Maybe the craziest thing about what the Bears did at the Norman Regional is they did it without No. 1 golfer Sera Hasegawa, who's out again this week with a serious back injury that is expected to force her to miss at least two more months. Senior BaiMai Seema struggled the first two rounds before closing with an even-par 72 in the "worst conditions, the worst weather, everything."
"She gutted out an even par when we absolutely needed it," Goble said.
Along with Ohma and Kaur, Seema will have the advantage of already playing the La Costa Resort & Spa golf, where the NCAA Championships begin Friday. At last year's tournament, where Baylor finished 21st, Seema survived the 54-hole cut and placed 28th individually.
"I think she's going to play well this week," Goble said of Seema. "She has good feelings about this place. She has good memories from last year. Even that final round, her whole team is out there watching her play that final round. Obviously, we all wanted to be playing, but it was fun to go watch her and support her. And she played good every day out here last year. I think her and Silje and Ashleen are going to be really good for Bridget and Malena, who haven't seen the golf course and don't really know what to expect."
Seema, trying to bounce back from a frustrating regional, said she has to "stay patient and stick to the plan from last year and try to do the things that I did well and improve on the things I didn't do well."
"I think we stunned a lot of teams that didn't make it (this year)," she said. "They were like, 'Wow, Baylor is actually in and they're finding a way to come back.' We're the underdog, so I kind of like that."
Goble said the Bears are "playing with house money" in a field that includes 20 of the top 25 teams in the country. The No. 28 seed, Baylor will be paired with Purdue and Cal State Fullerton for Friday's opening round with a 10:20 a.m. CT tee time off the 10th hole.
"I'm guessing that not many people are picking us to finish inside the top 15 (54-hole cut) or the top eight this week," Goble said of match play. "Again, we are playing with house money, and I think we can go out and free wheel a little bit. But I'm also seeing an outlook that's really good. And with that kind of attitude, good things can happen. And that's what I see happening for us this week."
BaylorBears.com
CARLSBAD, Calif. – As crazy as it sounds, Jay Goble believes his 2025 Baylor women's golf team is "every bit as talented as any team that I've coached before," which includes a 2015 group that finished the season as the NCAA runners-up.
"In fact, I would say we have more depth on the back end of our lineup than we've had in the past, when we made match play," said Goble, whose team defied all odds by qualifying for its fifth-straight NCAA Championship with a fifth-place showing at last week's NCAA Norman Regional.
"We have Malena Castro playing 5 for us this week. She's a one-semester freshman who's ranked top 200 (amateurs) in the world. She's going to be an amazing player for us, but she's just now getting in her groove, just now getting the flow of this college golf thing and understanding how everything works. I see her confidence building every day."
Remember, this is a Baylor team that qualified for postseason by the skin of its teeth, finishing 11th at the Big 12 Championship and narrowly eligible with a .500 record (67-67-3). If the Bears had shot three shots worse at the Big 12 tournament, they wouldn't have even got into a regional.
"Honestly, I think the reason we didn't play well at the end of the year is we were thinking about the stupid .500 rule," Goble said. "We were playing tight, and we were trying to force things and not just taking care of our own business and playing golf like we know how to do it. But we're a different team than we were a month ago."
Putting it together at the right time, Baylor "got a little magic going" in the Norman Regional and finished fifth in the 13-team field with a 3-over-par 867, 12 shots ahead of sixth-place Tulsa.
"It wasn't like something we all expected necessarily," said junior Silje Ohma, who finished fourth individually at 5-under 211, just three shots behind medalist Andrea Revuelta of Stanford, "but we were all super focused and had it in the back of our minds that that was the goal. And now, we're all relieved and excited to go to nationals."
Maybe the craziest thing about what the Bears did at the Norman Regional is they did it without No. 1 golfer Sera Hasegawa, who's out again this week with a serious back injury that is expected to force her to miss at least two more months. Senior BaiMai Seema struggled the first two rounds before closing with an even-par 72 in the "worst conditions, the worst weather, everything."
"She gutted out an even par when we absolutely needed it," Goble said.
Along with Ohma and Kaur, Seema will have the advantage of already playing the La Costa Resort & Spa golf, where the NCAA Championships begin Friday. At last year's tournament, where Baylor finished 21st, Seema survived the 54-hole cut and placed 28th individually.
"I think she's going to play well this week," Goble said of Seema. "She has good feelings about this place. She has good memories from last year. Even that final round, her whole team is out there watching her play that final round. Obviously, we all wanted to be playing, but it was fun to go watch her and support her. And she played good every day out here last year. I think her and Silje and Ashleen are going to be really good for Bridget and Malena, who haven't seen the golf course and don't really know what to expect."
Seema, trying to bounce back from a frustrating regional, said she has to "stay patient and stick to the plan from last year and try to do the things that I did well and improve on the things I didn't do well."
"I think we stunned a lot of teams that didn't make it (this year)," she said. "They were like, 'Wow, Baylor is actually in and they're finding a way to come back.' We're the underdog, so I kind of like that."
Goble said the Bears are "playing with house money" in a field that includes 20 of the top 25 teams in the country. The No. 28 seed, Baylor will be paired with Purdue and Cal State Fullerton for Friday's opening round with a 10:20 a.m. CT tee time off the 10th hole.
"I'm guessing that not many people are picking us to finish inside the top 15 (54-hole cut) or the top eight this week," Goble said of match play. "Again, we are playing with house money, and I think we can go out and free wheel a little bit. But I'm also seeing an outlook that's really good. And with that kind of attitude, good things can happen. And that's what I see happening for us this week."
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
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