No. 19 Baylor MGOLF Uses Dominant Day to Earn a Championship Berth

[Roberts, Matt]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – Oct. 10, 2023

No. 19 Baylor MGOLF Uses Dominant Day to Earn a Championship Berth
BU outscored its opponents 9-1 on day two
For more information, contact Matt Roberts, 254-227-2280, WM_Roberts at Baylor.edu<mailto:WM_Roberts at Baylor.edu>

HOCKLEY, Texas– Baylor men’s golf outscored TCU and Houston by a combined 9-1 on Tuesday, earning a third trip to the Big 12 Championship Match Play championship match.

The Bears made a strong statement with a dominant 5-0 win against TCU in the morning session, where only one match made it past the 16th hole. In the afternoon, Baylor used a couple of wins on the 18th hole by freshman Davis Ovard and senior Johnny Keefer to down Houston and improve to 4-0 on the week.

Keefer and Zach Heffernan remained unbeaten with two more wins, while Davis Ovard and Luke Dossey carded two wins each on Tuesday.

THE RUNDOWN
Morning Session
On his mom’s birthday, Keefer turned in another dominating effort against Gustav Frimodt, the 25th-ranked player in the latest WAGR rankings. Keefer picked up a win on the first hole of the match at No. 4, but Frimodt tied the match at No. 9. The BU senior would then reel off three-straight wins at Nos. 10, 11 and 12 to take control of the match. Three-up with three holes to play, Keefer notched a birdie at No. 1 to seal the match with a 4&2 win and pick up a point for the Bears.

Dossey was involved in a tight match for the third time, but outlasted Toby Wilt 2-up. The senior took an early lead with a win on his second hole of the day at No. 5. He would never trail again in the match and went 3-up through six holes. Wilt would chip away at Dossey’s lead until he got it to 1-up with three holes to play. The two made it to the 18th hole, where Dossey would win it with a par and seal the sweep for the Bears.

Trey Bosco continued his dominant week with a 6&4 win over TCU’s Ethan Dial. Following a pair of halves to start the match, Bosco claimed back-to-back wins at Nos. 8 and 9 to take a 2-up lead. The senior added three more wins at Nos. 12, 13 and 15 to go 5-up through 11. Bosco would end the match with a win a few holes later at No. 18.

Zach Heffernan claimed a 3&2 win in the morning session to improve to 3-0 on the week. The junior won two of his first three holes to go 3-up after four. He improved to 4-up with a win at No. 15. TCU's Andrew Petruzzelli would prolong the match with a win at No. 1 to get to 3-down, with three holes to play. Heffernan closed the match with a halve at No. 2 to secure his third win of the week.

Davis Ovard captured his career-first match play win with a 4&2 victory over TCU’s Jack Beauchamp. The TCU sophomore took a 1-up lead early and held it through five holes. Ovard flipped the match quickly with three-straight wins at Nos. 8, 9 and 10. His lead increased to as many as 4-up, and with Beauchamp dormie after 15 holes, Ovard closed the match with a par at No. 18.

Afternoon Session
Keefer was clutch in his first match to reach the 18th hole this week, winning the final hole to secure a 1-up win. In a nip-and-tuck match, Keefer traded blows with Houston's Santiago De La Fuente for the first seven holes until Keefer dropped a hole at No. 12 to trail for the first time this week. The senior would battle back to even but trailed by a hole with just two to play. Keefer won each of the last two holes to flip the match in favor of the Bears and clinch a third match this week.

Dossey finished off Austyn Riley 3&2 for his third win of the week. Dossey won two of the first three holes, only to watch Riley win the next two to even the match. The Austin native picked up wins at 11, 14 and 15 to take control of the match. The pair split the final five holes to give Dossey the win.

Heffernan continued his impressive week with a fourth-straight win, 3&2 over Houston’s Wolfgang Glowe. The junior won three of the first five holes to go 3-up in the match before collecting two more wins at Nos. 10 and 11 to go 5-up. Heffernan, 5-up with six to play, dropped holes at 16 and 18, but the match would never get closer than that.

After collecting his career-first win in the morning session, Ovard backed it up with a clutch, 1-up win against Jacob Borow in the afternoon. Ovard won two of the first three holes, but Borow clawed back to even through eight. Going back on top with wins at No. 11 and 18, Ovard got to 2-up with two to play. Borow would win at No. 1 to force the match to a decisive 18th hole at No. 2, but a pair of fives halved the hole and gave the match to Ovard.

Trey Bosco suffered his first loss of the week with a 6&5 setback against Hudson Weibel. Bosco dropped five of the first seven holes and could not really recover after a sixth win for Weibel came at No. 13.

HIGHLIGHTS

  *   On his mom’s birthday, Keefer matched his career-high with four wins in a single Big 12 Match Play.
  *   Keefer is now 16-6-4 in his career in match play.
  *   Luke Dossey, Zach Heffernan, Trey Bosco and Davis Ovard have set new career highs in Big 12 Match Play wins.
  *   Baylor's hole differential of +33 is the best in the field, six better than Texas and Texas Tech, who have the second-most.


STAT OF THE DAY
16 — Through four matches, Baylor accrued 16 match points, four points better than Texas, which has the second-most.

WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor will play against Texas in the championship match on Wednesday morning beginning with a 7:45 a.m. shotgun start. The Horned Frogs and Bears lead the field in total points (6) and match points (7), so Tuesday's match will determine the Pool C Champion, ahead of bracket play on Wednesday.

Live scoring can be found at Golfstat.com.<https://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=match&tid=28369&rid=5> For more information on Baylor Men’s Golf, follow @BaylorMGolf on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.



—BaylorBears.com—



Matt Roberts | Associate Director of Athletic Communications (MBB/MGOLF/ WGOLF)
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 254-227-2280
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