Baylor MGOLF Falls to BYU in Big 12 Match Play Final

Wed Oct 9 14:27:17 CDT 2024

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – Oct. 9, 2024

Baylor MGOLF Falls to BYU in Big 12 Match Play Final
BU finished the week with a 3-2 mark
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 closed an impressive week at the Big 12 Match Play with a 4-1 loss to BYU in Wednesday's championship match at Houston Oaks.

Zach Heffernan continued to shine in the match play format, closing the week at 3-2 and moving to 8-2 in his last two appearances in Hockley. Jonas Appel closed the event strong with another point on Wednesday to finish with two wins, claiming each of his last two matches.

With four of the five matches within one hole of each other through nine, BYU surged on the inward half, flipping four to at least 1-up leads after 11 holes. BYU secured the first two points of the match, leaving the Bears trailing 1-up in the three matches remaining on the course, needing to flip all three to claim the title. BYU finished strong, securing two of those points to polish off a 4-1 win.

THE RUNDOWN
Appel strung together a second-straight victory with a 1-up win on Wednesday morning over Angus Klintworth. Falling 1-down through two holes, Appel responded with wins at Nos. 6 and 7 to take a 1-up lead. Klintworth tied the match at No. 8 and then again at No. 12 after Appel regained slim leads. The match remained tied until the sophomore from BYU took a 1-up lead with two holes to play. The junior from Baylor responded with back-to-back wins to scratch out BU's only point of the session.

Heffernan closed his Big 12 Match Play career with a 2-up loss to BYU’s Peter Kim. After Kim took the early advantage, Heffernan won holes no. 3, 6 and 8 to stake himself to a 2-up lead through eight. Kim would respond, though, winning four of the next five holes to flip the match to 2-up in the Cougars’ favor. A par at No. 14 got the Baylor senior to 1-down, where the match would remain through 17 holes. Needing a birdie to scratch out a half point, Heffernan’s attempt slid by the hole, and he conceded the hole and the match.

Drew Wrightson finished the week 1-2-2 after a 2&1 loss to BYU's Simon Kwon on Wednesday. Kwon drew first blood with a birdie at No. 6 to take the 1-up advantage. Wrightson would tie things up at No. 10 with a birdie before bogeys at Nos. 11 and 13 dropped him to 2-down. A par at the par-5 16th pulled him back within one, giving him a chance to flip the match with five holes left. After halving the next two holes, Kwon birdied No. 1 to close out Wrightson 2&1.

Vincent Stjernfeldt suffered his first loss of the week with a 3&2 setback to Cole Ponich. The senior from BYU won the first hole only to see the Baylor freshman take each of the next two and go 1-up. The pair would play to a level match through seven when Ponich won back-to-back holes at Nos. 8 and 9 to go 2-up at the turn. After falling 3-down with six to play, Stjernfeldt’s par at No. 13 pushed him back to 2-down, but a wayward second shot cost him a bogey at No. 16, ending the match at 3&2.

Davis Ovard closed the week with a 2-3 mark after a 4&3 loss in the championship session. The Baylor sophomore dropped the first hole of the match at No. 2 but bounced back to level the match at No. 3 and then again at No. 10 to make the turn all square. BYU’s Tyson Shelly won four of the next six holes, closing things out with a birdie at No. 16.

HIGHLIGHTS

  *   Baylor is the only team in the Big 12 Match Play history to appear in four of the seven championship matches.
  *   Baylor is one of three schools to appear in back-to-back Big 12 Match Play finals.
  *   Zach Heffernan is now 8-2 in his last 10 matches.
  *   After winning his career-first match on Tuesday, Jonas Appel finished the week with a 2-3 mark.
  *   Vincent Stjernfeldt had an impressive debut at the Big 12 Match Play, going 3-1-1.

QUOTABLE
Head coach Mike McGraw on the takeaway from the week— "If you had told me Monday morning that we would play in the championship, I'd have been very happy with that. Despite the disappointment we feel right now, and believe me, we do feel it, we got beat pretty good today. I was really proud of watching Jonas earn that last point, so we didn't get shut out, which was great. And really, Zach was in his match, and Drew was in his match late, so we had a chance to flip those matches, just didn't do it."

Head coach Mike McGraw on his young team gaining confidence this week — “I know the guys aren't going to feel it right now because we just had a disappointing loss, but they have to know that there's more in the tank. Those first two tournaments really had nothing to do with who we are. We are going to change the momentum for the season, so we need to spend a day or so recovering. We have a fall break this week, and I'm going to let them go home. They need to be away from me and the coaches for a while. It will be a step in the right direction, and we've got two and a half weeks to get ready for the tournament in Tulsa, and I’m really excited about that.”

WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor will close out the fall semester at The Clerico, Oct. 28-29, in Tulsa, Okla. 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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