Baylor WGOLF Moves into 12th place after Round Two at the NCAA Championships

[Roberts, Matt]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – May 20, 2023

Baylor WGOLF Moves into 12th place after Round Two at the NCAA Championships
BU’s Sera Hasegawa turns in a second-straight 70 to lead the Bears
For more information, contact: Matt Roberts, 254-227-2280, WM_Roberts at Baylor.edu<mailto:WM_Roberts at Baylor.edu>

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Baylor women’s golf finished round two of the NCAA Championships in 12th place on the heels of a 2-over 290 Saturday at Grayhawk Golf Club.

The Bears are six shots clear of 16th place entering the third round. After Sunday's round, the field will be trimmed to the low 15 teams for the final stroke-play round on Monday. Following the fourth and final round of stroke play, the top eight advance to Tuesday’s match play portion.

Sera Hasegawa turned in another solid performance on Saturday with a 2-under 70 to lead the Bears, followed closely by BaiMai Seema, who shot an even-par 72 after being inserted into the lineup for the second round.

Wake Forest leads after round two with a 17-under 559, two shots ahead of defending champion Stanford. Wake’s Lauren Walsh leads all individuals with a 9-under 134, five shots ahead of Hasegawa. In addition to the top 15 teams, the top nine individuals from non-advancing teams will make it to Monday’s final round.

THE RUNDOWN
Starting on the back nine, Hasegawa broke into red figures early with a birdie at No. 12 and added another at No. 15. Her first dropped shot of the day came at No. 18 as she made the turn with a 1-under 35. The sophomore's third birdie of the day came at No. 4, before a second bogey of the day at No. 6. Hasegawa played her final three holes at 1-under, thanks to a birdie at No. 7 and put herself in a tie for 12th.

Making her first appearance in the lineup since the Big 12 Match Play, Seema carded an even-par 72 in just her second career round at Grayhawk. Inserted into the lineup for Britta Snyder, Seema bogeyed her first hole of the day at No. 10. She added two more bogeys at Nos. 16 and 17 to make the turn with a 3-over 39. Turning to her inward nine, the sophomore played bogey-free and mixed in birdies at Nos. 4, 7 and 9, for her first even-par round since a 72 at the Match at the Desert in January.

Silje Ohma followed up an opening-round 71 with a 2-over 74 on Saturday to sit tied for 48th. An up-and-down opening nine featured birdies at Nos. 11, 15 and 17, and bogeys at Nos. 10, 13 and 16, which added up to an even-par 36. Turning to the front nine, Ohma made four-straight pars before another dropped shot came at No. 5. The freshman carded one final bogey at No. 7 to sign for a 74 in round two.

Rosie Belsham also shot a 2-over 74 and is tied for 82nd after the second round. Belsham made an early bogey at No. 12 but closed her outward nine strong with birdies at Nos. 13 and 17 for a 1-under 35. The junior played her first four holes of the back nine at 3-over, with a bogey at No. 2 and a double bogey at No. 4. Belsham birdied No. 7 but finished with another bogey at No. 9.

Hannah Karg is tied for 98th after a 3-over 75 on Saturday. The senior pushed into red figures early with a birdie at No. 11, before closing her opening nine with a pair of bogeys at Nos. 17 and 18 for a 1-over 37. She carded another birdie at No. 4 to get back to even par, but three-straight bogeys at Nos. 6-8 dropped her to 3-over for the round.

HIGHLIGHTS

  *   Tied for XXth after 36 holes is Baylor’s best position after two rounds since 2017, the last time they made match play.
  *   Sera Hasegawa has now broken par in all five postseason rounds.
  *   Hasegawa is the first player in program history to shoot under par in each of her first five postseason rounds.
  *   Hasegawa is 16 under par in her four NCAA postseason rounds.
  *   A team-leading 92.9% of BaiMai Seema’s 14 stroke-play rounds this year have counted towards the team’s score.



QUOTABLE:
Head coach Jay Goble on the second round: “We hung in there. I don't think we had our best stuff today, which was a little tough. We didn't play our last couple holes as well as I was hoping we’d play them, because it looked like the scorable nine this morning. I’m not sure if it just got hot and ran out of gas a little bit there at the end. But this is definitely a marathon, and if you can maintain your position and creep up a little bit in the last couple of rounds, then you're going to be in good in a good place. And I think that that's what our goal is going to be moving forward. We can't go out and win this golf tournament tomorrow. But we can put ourselves in a good position to make the top 15, and then we can put ourselves in a good position to make the top eight and make it run on Monday. So those are like the baby steps that we're going to try to take.”

Goble on BaiMai Seema stepping in to shoot even-par: “I’m really proud of her. I actually walked the entire round with her today. She hasn't been in our lineup for a stroke play event since the Darius Rucker in early March. She hasn't. For her to come out here in this pressure, on this golf course and shoot three-under par on the back nine and get to even par was impressive. I could tell she was nervous, but at the end of the day, she grinded all the way to the end, and she did a really good job.”

WHAT’S NEXT
Baylor will play with New Mexico and Georgia at 9:27 a.m. CT on the tenth tee. BaiMai Seema will be first off, followed by Hannah Karg at 9:38 a.m. Rosie Belsham will tee off at 9:49 a.m., just ahead of Silje Ohma at 10:00 a.m. Sera Hasegawa will be in the anchor position at 10:11 a.m. Live scoring and stats are available at Golfstat.com.<https://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=26045>

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