Baylor WGOLF in First Place after Day One of the Veritex Bank Texas Showdown

Mon Apr 8 19:41:03 CDT 2024

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS- April 8, 2024

Baylor WGOLF in First Place after Day One of the Veritex Bank Texas Showdown
The Bears enter Tuesday’s match-play sessions as the top-overall seed
For more information contact: Matt Roberts, 254-227-2280, WM_Roberts at Baylor.edu<mailto:WM_Roberts at Baylor.edu>

DALLAS, Texas. – Baylor women’s golf shot a 12-under 564 to lead the pack after day one at the Veritex Bank Texas Showdown Monday at Dallas Athletic Club.

Senior Rosie Belsham spent her day camped near the top of the leaderboard and finished second with a 7-under 137. Maryland’s Patricie Mackova won the stroke-play portion with a 9-under 135.

Baylor’s Yoonjeong Huh was the standard-bearer among Baylor’s three individuals, finishing tied for 14th place, while Mallory Matthews and Hannah Herbel finished 50th and 51st, respectively.

The Bears finished three shots ahead of Maryland and will be the No. 1 overall seed heading into the match-play session on Tuesday morning. The Bears will face off with No. 4 seed SMU, and the winner of that match will face the winner of the other semifinal match between Maryland and UCF.

THE RUNDOWN
Round One
Belsham made an early bogey on her first hole of the day, No. 4. However, the senior settled in, playing her next 10 holes bogey-free with birdies at Nos. 6, 8, 9 and 13. A bogey at No. 16 would prove to be her last of the round, and she finished with two more birdies at Nos. 17 and 3.

Silje Ohma carded her best round of the season with a 1-under 71 in the first round. She played her first five holes at even par but got a shot in the arm with her second eagle of the season at No. 10 to get to 2-under. She surged to 4-under with two more birdies at Nos. 13 and 15 before back-to-back bogeys dropped her back to 2-under. A final bogey of the round came at No. 2, but Ohma still signed for her first under-par round of the season.

Sera Hasegawa continued her strong run of late with an even-par 72 in the first round. The junior struggled a bit on her outward half, making only two pars around five bogeys and two birdies. The reining All-American flipped the script on the second nine with three straight birdies at Nos. 11-13 to get back to level par. The streak ended with a bogey at No. 14 before she closed with a birdie at No. 18 to sign for a 72.

Ashleen Kaur carded a 1-over 73 in the opening round. A bogey at the opening hole dropped her over par to start before she battled back with a bogey at No. 6. The freshman made the turn at 1-over on the heels of a bogey at No. 9. Her third bogey of the day came at No. 14. Still, she closed strong with two birdies in her final three holes, around a bogey at No. 18.

BaiMai Seema started strong with a birdie on her first hole of the day at No. 3. After dropping a pair of shots with bogeys at Nos. 6 and 9, the junior responded with a birdie at No. 10 to get back to even. A double bogey at No. 12 and bogeys at Nos. 14 and 2 would drop her back over par for the round, and she would finish with a 4-over 76.

Round Two
Belsham kept the good times rolling in round two with a 3-under 69. She birdied three of her first five holes to get to 3-under on the round. Her first bogey of the round came at No. 9, but she would claw back that stroke with a birdie at No. 13. A bogey at No. 2 was offset by a birdie at No. 3, allowing Belsham to finish second.

Kaur improved by four shots from round one to round two, shooting a 3-under 69 in the afternoon. The freshman suffered a pair of bogeys at Nos. 3 and 5 to start, before battling back with five birdies in her next nine holes at Nos. 6, 10, 11, 13 and 14. Her run was briefly interrupted by a double bogey at No. 16 before closing with birdies at Nos. 18 and 1 to finish the day tied for seventh.

Hasegawa strung together another solid score in the second round as a 1-under 71 helped her finish tied for 10th. In a bit of an inverse from her opening round, Hasegawa made three birdies around just one bogey on the front nine en route to a 2-under 34. Following a birdie at No. 10, Hasegawa ran into a bit of a rough patch with bogeys at Nos. 12, 14 and 16 but closed with a final birdie at No. 18.

Seema also shot a 1-under 71 in the second round to tie for 26th. Opening with a birdie for the second-straight round, Seema dropped a shot at No. 6 to fall back to even through nine. A second birdie at No. 13 pushed her into red numbers, where she would stay after exchanging a bogey and a birdie at Nos. 17 and 18, respectively.

Ohma shot a 3-over 75 in the second round to finish tied for 20th. A triple-bogey seven started the round for the sophomore at No. 5, but she rebounded with three-straight birdies at Nos. 7-9 to fight back to even. Three more bogeys on the back nine put her back over par to finish off her 3-over 75.

HIGHLIGHTS

  *   Baylor led the field in Par-4 scoring (4.03) and par-5 scoring (4.60).
  *   BU’s 43 birdies were the most in the field on Monday.
  *   BU is one of two teams with at least three players in the top 10.
  *   Sera Hasegawa has shot par or better in nine of her last 11 rounds.
  *   Hasegawa and Belsham tied for the second-best par-4 scoring average (3.85)
  *   The duo also tied for the second-most birdies on Monday (11).

QUOTABLE:
Head coach Jay Goble — “I am very proud that we were able to battle back and win the stroke-play portion of the event. We were tough and resilient, which will serve us well going into postseason. We have some players like Rosie, Ashleen and Sera who are really rounding into form as the tournaments ramp up in importance over this next month.”

WHAT’S NEXT
The Bears and Mustangs will tee it up tomorrow morning in the semifinals of the championship backet. Maryland and UCF will play in the other semifinal, with the winners meeting in the championship match on Tuesday afternoon.

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