Records and Darkness Fall on Day One at the Chapel Hill Regional

[Roberts, Matt]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS- May 13, 2024

Records and Darkness Fall on Day One at the Chapel Hill Regional
BU’s Isenhart and Keefer become the first BU duo since 2002 to shoot 65 or better in the same event
For more information, contact Matt Roberts, 254-227-2280, WM_Roberts at Baylor.edu<mailto:WM_Roberts at Baylor.edu>

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Baylor men's golf found itself in fourth place as darkness descended on Finley Golf Club, suspending the second round of the Chapel Hill Regional on Monday. Able to complete two rounds, BU was led by a stellar day from its seniors, Tyler Isenhart and Johnny Keefer.

Keefer's 64 tied for the best NCAA postseason round in program history, matching Colton Turnquist’s 64 at the Central Regional in 2005 and Braden Bailey’s at the 2017 Stanford Regional. Isenhart shot a five-under 65 in the opening round to record the fourth-best postseason round in BU history. The Baylor duo became just the second pair in program history and the first since 2002 to shoot 65 or better in the same event.

Twenty-four players will need to finish the second round on Tuesday morning. As it stands, Keefer is tied with North Carolina’s Austin Greaser for second place, a shot back of Clemson’s Calahan Keever for the individual lead. Isenhart is just three shots behind in a tie for fifth.

At the suspension of play, East Tennessee State blistered the course with a 21-under 539 to stake themselves to a three-shot lead over the second-place Tigers of Clemson, who have two players yet to finish the second round. Baylor’s 11-under 549 is currently one shot ahead of Georgia Tech and Long Beach State, tied for fifth on the heels of a pair of 10-under 550s. Alabama is four shots behind the Bears in seventh with a 7-under 553.

The second round will resume at 6:30 a.m. CT on Tuesday, weather permitting. The teams will have two days to play the final 18 holes. The NCAA does not allow regionals to extend beyond Wednesday.

THE RUNDOWN
Round One
Opening on No. 10, Isenhart opened with five-straight pars before getting red hot with three-straight birdies at Nos. 15, 16 and 17. The senior made a bogey at No. 18 but wasted no time in getting that stroke back and then some, with birdies at Nos. 1 and 2 and an eagle at No. 3. Two more bogeys at Nos. 4 and five halted his momentum, only briefly, before he rolled in a sixth birdie of the day at No. 6. Isenhart went 10 holes in the first round between pars, making eagle, birdie or bogey on Nos. 15-6.

Keefer made an early birdie at No. 3 before his first dropped shot of the day came at No. 13. Three birdies in his next five holes saw him make the turn with a 3-under 31. The senior’s fifth birdie of the day dropped at No. 4 but was offset by a final bogey at No. 5.

Zach Heffernan opened with fours-straight pars and made the turn at even par after a bogey at No. 14 and a birdie at No. 15. The sophomore added two more bogeys at Nos. 1 and 4 ahead of a birdie at No. 7 to finish the round with a 1-over 71.

Davis Ovard carded a 3-over 73 in his NCAA postseason debut. Following two bogeys in his first four holes, Ovard put his first birdie on the card at No. 17 but closed his first nine with a double bogey at No. 18. He battled to get a stroke back with a birdie at No. 1 and settled in with seven-straight pars but closed with a bogey at No. 9.

Luke Dossey recorded a 5-over 75 in his first round on Monday. A bogey-birdie-bogey start put the senior at 1-over through three holes before dropping two more shots with a double bogey at No. 14. A second birdie earned him a shot back at No. 16. He played the back nine at 3-over with bogeys at Nos. 1, 5 and 9.

Round Two
Keefer began his second round with a bang, carding back-to-back birdies at Nos. 10 and 11. He dropped two shots with a double bogey at No. 14 but still made the turn in red figures after back-to-back birdies at Nos. 16 and 17. He added a fifth birdie at No. 2, with his first bogey coming at No. 5. The senior responded in a big way, playing his final four holes at 4-under par with an eagle at No. 6 and birdies at Nos. 7 and 8.

Isenhart picked up where he left off in round one with an early birdie at No. 12. Back-to-back bogeys dropped him over par for the first time in two rounds, but he responded with a birdie at No. 17 to make the turn with an even-par 34. Birdies at Nos. 2 and 3 kickstarted his second nine until a bogey at No. 4 cost him another shot. A final birdie at No. 3 put him in the clubhouse in a tie for fifth after two rounds.

Heffernan finished Monday in a tie for 24th after a career postseason-best 68. Heffernan dropped a shot at No. 14 but clawed back with a birdie at No. 17 to make the turn at even par. The junior strung together back-to-back birdies at Nos. 1 and 2 before adding another at No. 6. He closed with a bogey at No. 9 to shoot his best round since an opening-round 66 at the ASU Thunderbird Collegiate.

Ovard carded a second-straight 73 to close day one in a tie for 60th. After an early birdie at No. 11, the freshman made bogeys at Nos. 12 and 14. Two birdies in his next three holes put him in red figures again, but a bogey at No. 18 saw him make the turn with an even-par 34. A birdie at No. 2 pushed him back under par, but bogeys at Nos. 3, 4, 8 and 9 put him back at 3-over for the round and 6-over for the day.

Luke Dossey finished the day in 71st after a 10-over 80 in the second round. The senior went out in 5-over 39 with a double bogey at No. 11 and bogeys at Nos. 12, 13 and 18. His lone birdie of the round came at No. 3 but was surrounded by bogeys at Nos. 1, 2 and 9 and a triple bogey at No. 5.

HIGHLIGHTS

  *   BU’s second-round 273 ranked as the second-best postseason team round in program history.
  *   Baylor’s opening-round 276 is the fourth-best postseason round in team history.
  *   Isenhart’s opening-round 65 established a new career-low round for the senior, besting his previous low of 67.
  *   Keefer is now responsible for two of the top-10 single-round individual scores in program history, matching Braden Bailey, who also had two scores of 64 or better.
  *   Heffernan established a career-best postseason score with his second-round 68.


STAT OF THE DAY
65— Johnny Keefer and Tyler Isenhart became just the second pair in program history and the first since 2002 to shoot 65 or better in the same event. Jamie McLeary and Adam Meyer shot matching 65s in the 2002 Border Olympics.

WHAT’S NEXT
The Bears will wait for the conclusion of the second round, which will begin at 6:30 a.m. CT. Weather permitting, the final round will begin no earlier than 8:30 a.m. CT. Live scoring and stats for each round can be found at Golfstat.com.<https://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=29178> For more information on Baylor Men’s Golf, follow @BaylorMGolf 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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