By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
 
NORMAN, Okla. – After Baylor women's golf limped into the postseason with an 11^th-place finish at the Big 12 Tournament and a .500 record overall, making it in by the slimmest of margins, there were little to no expectations going into the NCAA Norman Regional.
 
To make matters worse, the Bears lost No. 1 player Sera Hasegawa to a "pretty significant back injury."
 
But buoyed by a fourth-place individual finish from junior Silje Ohma, the Bears weathered some difficult conditions to place fifth at 3-over-par 867 and earn the final qualifying spot for the NCAA Championships for a program-record fifth year in a row.
 
"It's crazy. I don't know how to explain it exactly," said Baylor coach Jay Goble, taking the Bears to the NCAA Championship for the 10^th time overall and seventh in the last eight tournaments. "I think the Golf Channel said it perfectly. When they were describing us, they were like, 'flashes of brilliance, but most of their performances this year have left us scratching our heads.' And that's kind of how all of us felt."
 
What gave Goble hope, though, was a talented lineup that includes three golfers that played in last year's regional and NCAA Championship and a transfer in Oakland's Bridget Boczar that was the Horizon League Player of the Year last season.
 
"We know we have the guns," Goble said after the tournament was completed Wednesday, when Oregon State wasn't able to make up 13 shots over its 11 remaining holes from Tuesday's third round, "but haven't really seen performances that would make anyone think we're going to make the national championships, to put it lightly."
 
Still, there was a feeling even the day before the tournament started that Baylor could put together a serious run in the 12-team regional at the Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club.
 
"We played an extra practice round at Oak Tree National, and we just looked more comfortable than we've looked in the past two months," Goble said. "We just looked like we were a little bit more prepared and excited for the opportunity. . . . This is the most pressure-packed event that we play all year long, and you wouldn't have known by the way they reacted."
 
Getting off to one of its best starts of the season, Baylor was tied for second after Monday's morning round at 1-under 287, with three of the scoring golfers shooting even-par or better. Ohma and sophomore Ashleen Kaur shot 1-under 71, while first-semester freshman Malena Castro posted an even-par 72.
 
Ohma followed that up with a 3-under 69 in Monday's afternoon round, leaving her in a tie for third and only one shot off the pace set by the 36-hole co-leaders.
 
"What a difference a year makes," Goble said of Ohma, who shot 83 in the final round at the Las Vegas Regional last year. "I don't know if we counted her score at all at regionals and hardly counted her at nationals. And she finishes in the top five this week.
 
"I would say that she is the brightest spot this week. Because last year at this time, she was lost in the weeds, playing probably some of the worst golf of her career. And she played some really great golf, under pressure and in tough conditions this week. It was fantastic to see Silje come through like that."
 
Goble credits first-year assistant coach Maddie Luitwieler-Caruna for some of the growth this season in Ohma, who led the team in scoring average coming into the tournament (73.17) with 10 rounds of par or better and six top-25 finishes.
 
"She's had a better year than last year, in general," Goble said. "She has been one of the brighter spots., even in the regular season. But my new assistant coach has basically walked with her probably 90% of her rounds this year. And I can tell you right now, Maddie has been a huge positive reinforcement for Silje. Not giving Maddie all the credit, because obviously Silje is the one doing the work, but Maddie has been a very positive light for Silje this year."
 
Recording her third-straight sub-par round, shooting 1-under 71 in Tuesday's final round, Ohma finished fourth at 5-under 211, just three shots behind individual medalist Andrea Revuelta of Stanford. The top-ranked Cardinal also ran away with the team title, shooting 23-under 841, and will be joined at the NCAA Championship by Northwestern, Michigan State, Oklahoma and Baylor.
 
But Ohma didn't do it by herself. She got plenty of help from Boczar, Kaur, Castro and senior BaiMai Seema, who shot an even-par 72 in Tuesday's closing round to help the Bears settle into fifth place when play was halted by darkness. With sixth-place Tulsa already finished, the only team that could even possibly catch Baylor was Oregon State, but the Beavers didn't come close to making up a 13-shot deficit.
 
Boczar finished tied for 17^th at 2-over 218, Kaur was one shot back in a tie for 23^rd and Castro tied for 36^th at 7-over 223.
 
"I don't know if this is her best tournament off the year, I think it's one of them," Goble said of Boczar, whose best previous finish was a tie for 18^th at the UCF Challenge. "If you would have told me when she transferred that, 'Hey, next year at regional, she'll finish top 20 for you,' I'd say that was worth her coming here. That's a solid performance when we needed it the most."
 
Baylor is one of 30 qualifiers for the NCAA Championship, which begins next Friday, May 16, at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. There is a 54-hole cut to the top 15 teams, with the top eight qualifying for match play.
 
"Honestly, the group that we have right now, they've got a little magic going," Goble said. "I think with the right perspective and the right mindset, anything can happen. On paper, I know nobody is going to pick us to make the cut or make the top eight. But I think momentum and magic and the right perspective can go a long way."