WACO, Texas – Baylor is the fifth seed and host for the NCAA Waco Regional that begins Monday at Ridgewood Country Club, a challenging par-70 course where the Bears play 3-4 times a week.
“There’s always a little bit of pressure this time of year,” said Baylor coach Jay Goble, whose team is trying to advance to the NCAA Championship for the sixth-consecutive year.
“The thing that should ease my players’ minds is that everybody is going to get one round of golf out here on Sunday. We’ve played 100 rounds of golf this year, and they’ve been in every position out here – behind trees and in bunkers, in the rough and everywhere around the greens. And they know how to score from those positions. They’ve been out here a million times.”
Fourth-ranked Texas A&M is the No. 1 seed for the Waco Regional, followed by eighth-ranked Oregon, No. 17 Tennessee, 21st-ranked SMU and No. 26 Baylor.
Rounding out the 12-team field are LSU, TCU, Tulsa, Colorado, Northern Arizona, Tarleton State and Prairie View A&M, with the top five teams advancing to the NCAA Championship May 22-27 at La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.
The field also includes six individual players – two each from North Texas and Texas State, one from Houston Christian and one from ACU – playing for one of the qualifying spots for the top two individuals on non-advancing teams.
“I think the main thing is just that we’re all comfortable out here,” said senior Bridget Boczar, who has led the team in each of the last two tournaments, tying for second at the “Mo” Morial and 16th at the Big 12 Championship. “We’re going to show up knowing where everything is, knowing how things work out here, and it’s just going to be easy. It takes less mental energy to put a good round together when we’ve played here so many times.”
Back in the fall, Baylor finished second behind Texas A&M in the one-day, 36-hole Bear Brawl at Ridgewood, shooting 4-over-par 564. Junior transfer Yurang Li tied the school record with a round of 5-under 65 and won medalist honors for the second-straight tournament at 5-under 135.
Sophomore Malena Castro, who leads the Bears with a 72.18-stroke average, finished fourth in the Bear Brawl at even-par 140. Senior Silje Ohma and junior transfer Charlotte Brook also recorded rounds of 1-under 69 and finished in the top 20 individually, while Boczar tied for ninth.
Boczar leads the team in the No. 1 position this week, followed by Castro, Li, Ohma and Brook, with freshman Amelia Wan available as a substitute.
Paired with SMU and LSU for Monday’s opening round, Baylor will start on the back nine with tee times starting at 8 a.m. off the No. 10 tee box.
Live scoring is available at NCAA Waco Regional, with Babygrande providing live streaming on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Admission is free and open to the public, with parking available by the golf course and tennis courts at Ridgewood.
For the latest news on the Baylor women’s golf team, follow its official Facebook, X and Instagram accounts: @BaylorWGolf.
– BaylorBears.com –
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