Baylor WGOLF Closes Monday Strong, Climbs to Fifth at Las Vegas Regional

Mon May 6 18:22:16 CDT 2024

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS- May 6, 2024

Baylor WGOLF Closes Monday Strong, Climbs to Fifth at Las Vegas Regional
The Bears improve by 22 shots on second nine to get inside cut line with two rounds remaining
For more information contact: Matt Roberts, 254-227-2280, WM_Roberts at Baylor.edu<mailto:WM_Roberts at Baylor.edu>

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Baylor women’s golf opened the Las Vegas Regional with a 4-over 292, closing Monday in fifth place at Spanish Trail Golf Club.

After a rough start, the Bears closed the opening round strong. BU played the back nine at 9-under 135, 22 shots better than the 13-over 157 it shot on the front nine. Arkansas holds the team lead after an 8-under 280, three shots ahead of Florida State. The Bears are 12 shots back of the Hogs but two shots ahead of sixth-place Arizona. The top five teams after 54 holes will advance to the NCAA Championships.

BU’s Sera Hasegawa shot a second-nine 32 to blaze a trail into the clubhouse in a tie for sixth at 1-under. Arkansas’ Kajal Mistry shot a 6-under 66 on Monday to lead by one shot over Florida State’s Lottie Woad, the 2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur Champion.

THE RUNDOWN
Hasegawa bounced back from an early bogey at No. 2 with a birdie at No. 4. The junior closed the front nine with three-straight bogeys at Nos. 5, 6 and 7 for a 3-over 39. Her inward nine was kick-started with a birdie at No. 10 and was followed by two more at Nos. 14 and 15 ahead of her sixth bogey of the day. She closed with a bang, carding an eagle at the par-5 18th to finish the day in red figures.

Ashleen Kaur struggled early, playing her first seven holes at 4-over but turned with a 4-over 40 after a birdie at No. 8. That birdie took the lid off the cup for Kaur, who shot a bogey-free 33 on the back nine with birdies at Nos. 11, 15 and 18 to get back to 1-over for the round and a tie for 18th.

BaiMai Seema got her NCAA regional debut off to a solid start with two pars and a birdie at No. 3. The junior stumbled with four-straight bogeys at Nos. 4-7 and made the turn with a 3-over 39. On the back nine, Seema played the first eight holes at 2-under before closing with a bogey at No. 18 to finish tied for 31st.

Silje Ohma shot a 2-over 74 to tie for 31st on Monday. The sophomore opened with a front-nine 39 with bogeys at Nos. 3, 5 and 8. She settled in on the second nine with eight pars around a birdie at No. 13 to climb into a tie for 31st.

Rosie Belsham shot a 4-over 76, the first over-par round in her regional career. She started strong with a birdie at No. 1 to get things rolling before dropping a pair of shots at Nos. 3 and 9 to make the turn at 1-over. Bogeys at Nos. 11, 12 and 17 dropped her to 4-over on the round, where she would finish in a tie for 44th.

HIGHLIGHTS

  *   BU’s 292 is tied for the 23rd-best round in postseason history.
  *   Ashleen Kaur's 1-over 73 was the lowest postseason round by a Baylor freshman in a debut since Gurleen Kaur, her older sister, shot a 3-under 69 in the first round of the Austin Regional in 2018.
  *   Sera Hasegawa’s second-nine 32 was one of just three scores of 32 or better on the back nine on Monday.
  *   Hasegawa has now recorded under-par rounds in each of her first four regional rounds.
  *   The junior was one of just three players in the field to record an eagle on Monday.
  *   Hasegawa’s 71 was the 60th postseason round of 71 or better.
  *   Silje Ohma’s 14 pars tied for the second-most in the field in the first round.
  *   Ohma continued to play well on the par-3s, notching the second-best par-3 scoring average in the first round (3.00).
  *   BaiMai Seema carded her career-best NCAA postseason round (74).

QUOTABLE:
Head coach Jay Goble — “I’m very happy how we finished today's round. Sera, Silje, Ashleen and BaiMai really had solid back nines, and I believe that is what we needed to kick start this event. We will work on some things this afternoon and get ready for a good round tomorrow.”

WHAT’S NEXT
The Bears will play alongside UCLA and Arizona on Tuesday in the second round, with tee times beginning at 10 a.m. CT Full tee times, live scoring and stats can be found at Golfstat.com.<https://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=29165>

For more information on Baylor Women’s Golf, follow @BaylorWGolf on X, 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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