Baylor MGOLF Set for NCAA Championship at La Costa

[Roberts, Matt]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – May 23, 2024

Baylor MGOLF Set for NCAA Championship at La Costa
The 2024 trip to the championship marks BU’s sixth in the last eight seasons
For more information, contact Matt Roberts, 254-227-2280, WM_Roberts at Baylor.edu<mailto:WM_Roberts at Baylor.edu>
Interviews from today’s session are available in the media materials folder: https://baylorbea.rs/4aiq5kV

CARLSBAD, Calif. — Baylor men's golf returns to the NCAA Championship on Friday morning when they tee it up in the first round at the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa.

Moving to the San Diego area this season, the championship is being played on the newly renovated North Course. It opened just in time for the NCAA Women's Championship a week ago, an event in which the Baylor women's team participated. Additionally, BU's Jonas Appel, from nearby Encinitas, Calif., grew up playing this course and has been able to give his team some insight ahead of this week. Getting a first-hand look at the course on Thursday, the Bears know the key will be picking their spots around La Costa.

"I think picking and choosing your time to be aggressive is very important," senior Johnny Keefer said. "Obviously, you want to play conservatively on some holes and a little more aggressive on others. In the practice round today, we did a good job figuring out those holes and locations where we need to be aggressive and when not to be [aggressive]. It's also important to trust your instincts too. If you're feeling really good, sometimes you can be a little bit more aggressive than you might have planned. I think we will do a good job of picking and choosing our times correctly."

Fresh off setting the program’s 54-hole scoring record in Chapel Hill, Keefer will play his 36th-straight tournament at the No. 1 position for BU. Keefer aims to finish his Baylor career strong after making the cut as an individual en route to a tie for 52nd at the NCAA Championship last year at Grayhawk.

Tyler Isenhart will enter his final event playing out of the No. 2 position. The senior is coming off a strong showing in Chapel Hill, where he shot an opening-round 65, the fourth-best NCAA postseason round in program history. In his NCAA Championship debut last season, Isenhart tied for 94th after 54 holes.

Zach Heffernan also makes his return to the NCAA Championship in 2024 after debuting at Grayhawk a season ago. Playing out of the No. 3 position, the junior has been on a strong run as of late, with three top-20 finishes in his last four events, highlighted by a tie for fourth at the Aggie Invitational and a tie for 18th at the Chapel Hill Regional.

Davis Ovard will make his NCAA Championship debut at the No. 4 spot. Since January, the freshman has come on strong in his spring semester, jumping 683 spots in the Scorecard individual rankings. The freshman used a final-round 71 to help lift the Bears out of the Chapel Hill Regional and into the NCAA Championship.

Southern California native Jonas Appel will get the nod at the No. 5 position. Appel grew up roughly five minutes from La Costa and played a pivotal role in BU, making it back to his hometown by coming off the bench to shoot a final-round 71 in Chapel Hill.

Luke Dossey enters this week as the alternate for the Bears. The senior played at the NCAA Championship last season at Grayhawk and finished tied for 135th.

The Bears will tee off alongside Notre Dame and Ohio State beginning at 9:35 a.m. CT. Full pairings, live scores and stats are available at Golfstat.com<https://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=29187> throughout the week.<https://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=29187>

For more information on Baylor Men’s Golf, follow @BaylorMGolf on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.



www.BaylorBears.com<http://www.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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