Baylor MGOLF Splits Day One at the Big 12 Match Play

Mon Oct 7 19:14:12 CDT 2024

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – Oct. 7, 2024

Baylor MGOLF Splits Day One at the Big 12 Match Play
BU secures thrilling 3-2 victory in afternoon session against Colorado
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 finished day one at 1-1 at the Big 12 Match Play Championship Monday at the Clubs at Houston Oaks.

The Bears opened with a close 3-2 loss against Texas Tech and capped the day with a 3-2 win over Colorado, thanks to clutch wins on the final holes by Vincent Stjerfeldt and Zach Heffernan. Drew Wrightson and Stjernfeldt led the charge for BU, earning a point and a half each for the green and gold on Monday.

The Bears picked up three match points, trailing only Texas Tech, which led Pool D after day one with six points. The Bears and Horned Frogs will meet on Tuesday morning in the final pool-play match. With a -8 hole differential, BU trails TCU at +3, while Texas Tech is 21 holes better at +13. The Bears will need a convincing win over the Frogs and some help from Colorado to claim the Pool D championship on Tuesday.

THE RUNDOWN
Morning Session
Davis Ovard improved to 3-3 in his match-play career with a 1-up win in the morning session over Ben Gregg. The sophomore battled back from an early 2-down deficit with three-straight wins at Nos. 3, 4 and 5 to take a 1-up lead. Ovard went 2-up with a win at No. 8 before Gregg got one back with a win at No. 11. The pair split the final three holes to give Baylor its first point of the session.

Wrightson battled to a tie in the morning against Texas Tech’s Sean Keeling. The redshirt junior won the first hole before Keeling reeled off back-to-back wins at Nos. 15 and 16. Wrightson took another 1-up lead with a win at No. 3, but Keeling carded wins at Nos. 4, 5 and 8 to take a 2-up lead through 15. Two down with three holes to play, Wrightson picked up a win at No. 10 and the final hole of the round at No. 12 to scratch out a tie.

Stjernfeldt picked up a tie in his career-first match against Tim Wiedemeyer. The Tech sophomore got a few early wins at Nos. 16, 2 and 3 to grab a 2-up lead through eight. BU’s freshman fought his way back and took a 1-up lead on the heels of wins at Nos. 5, 8 and 9. Wiedemeyer pulled back to even with a win at No. 12 before the duo halved each of the final two holes.

Jonas Appel fell to Tech's Charlie DeLong 5&4 in his first match since 2022. DeLong won the second hole of the match at No. 15, followed by wins at Nos. 1, 4, 5 and 6, to go 5-up through 11. Appel briefly extended things with a win at No. 8 before DeLong closed him out with a win at No. 9.

Zach Heffernan dropped his first match since October 2022 with a 5&3 loss to Connor Graham. A win at No. 17 staked Graham to an early lead through three holes, only to see Heffernan claw back to even with wins at Nos. 18 and 2. However, the Red Raider picked up five wins over the next seven holes to take control of the match.

Afternoon Session
Drew Wrightson was the only match that didn't go the distance on Tuesday afternoon, dispatching Colorado's Dylan McDermott 2&1 in 17 holes. The Colorado senior took the advantage in the match with a couple of birdies at Nos. 1 and 2 to go 2-up. However, Wrightson wrestled back control of the match, winning at Nos. 6, 8, 9 and 11 to go 3-up through 13. McDermott would make a birdie at No. 13 to get within 2-up but could get no closer.

Stjernfeldt closed his first day at the match play with a 1-up win over Freddy Eisenbeis. The BU freshman fell 1-down on the third hole but scratched his way back in front with a 3-up lead thanks to four wins in a five-hole stretch at Nos. 6, 7, 9 and 10. Eisenbeis refused to give up, fighting back to even at No. 13 and then again at No. 15. Stjernfeldt made a par at No. 16 to close out a 1-up win, as one of the two players won each of the last eight holes.

Heffernan got back on track with a 1-up win of his own on the last hole over Justin Biwer. After having his 5-match winning streak snapped in the morning, the senior had a good grip on the match after winning the first hole and climbing to 3-up through six holes. Biwer, though, made birdies at Nos. 5, 7 and 9 to square the match. All square through 15, the pair traded wins on the next two holes, setting the stage for a Heffernan birdie at No. 16 to seal his match and tip the scales in favor of the Bears over the Buffs.

Ovard dropped the afternoon session 1-up to Brandon Knight. The sophomore for the Buffaloes took a 1-up lead on the second hole and would never trail. Ovard kept the pressure on, though, never falling more than 2-down, and tied the match on the 11th hole. All square through 15, Knight regained the lead at No. 13 and would stay in front for the 1-up win.

Appel fell 2-up to Ty Holbrook in a back-and-forth affair on Monday afternoon. A win on the opening hole at No. 16 gave Appel a quick 1-up lead that was erased with a birdie by Holbrook at the 18th and a par at the first. Appel knotted things with a birdie at No. 3 but would drop 2-back with wins at Nos. 6 and 7 by Holbrook. The pair would halve only two of the final 11 holes as the sophomore from Colorado picked up a win on the final hole of the day to seal the match.

HIGHLIGHTS

  *   With three of the five points within reach of the Bears at their respective final holes, Baylor took two of those points to seal the match over the Buffalos.
  *   Zach Heffernan improved to 8-8-1 in his match-play career
  *   Vincent Stjernfeldt secured his career-first match-play victory and is now 1-0-1
  *   Drew Wrightson improves to 3-1-1 in match play

STAT OF THE DAY
719 — Dropping his match in the morning session, Zach Heffernan went 719 days between losses in this event.

WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor will play against TCU in the final pool-play match on Tuesday morning, beginning with a 7:45 a.m. shotgun start. Bracket play is scheduled to begin at approximately 1:15 p.m.

Stats and live scoring can be found at Golfstat.com.<https://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=match&tid=29262&rid=3> For more information on Baylor Men’s Golf, follow @BaylorMGolf on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

—BaylorBears.com—

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