Baylor Women's Golf Advances to NCAA Championships with Fourth-Place Finish in Pullman

PULLMAN, Wash. – Baylor women’s golf fired a postseason program-record 11-under 277 on Wednesday to finish fourth in the NCAA Pullman Regional at Palouse Ridge Golf Club.

By finishing in the top-five, the Bears have advanced to the NCAA Championships next week at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., for the third-straight year.

All four counting scores for BU finished under par, led by Sera Hasegawa with her third-straight 68 to finish tied for sixth. Rosie Belsham also stayed consistent with a third-straight 70 to finish in a tie for 13th, while Silje Ohma rode a second-nine 31 to a 3-under 69 and a tie for 26th. Hannah Karg improved her score for a third-straight day with a 2-under 70, to record a tie for 23rd.

Top-ranked Stanford won the regional with a score of 50-under par 814, 17 shots clear of second-place Clemson. The Bears finished three shots back of third-place USC and four shots up on fifth-place Texas Tech. Top-ranked Rose Zhang won individual medalist honors with a 19-under 197, besting her teammate Sadie Englemann by four strokes.

THE RUNDOWN

Hasegawa continued her steady play on Wednesday with a 3-under 33 on the front nine, thanks to birdies at Nos. 4, 5 and 9. The sophomore transfer added another birdie at No. 11, before making just her second bogey of the week at No. 12. She played the final six holes at 1-under with a birdie at No. 17.

Belsham continued her stellar play on the front nine with eight pars and a birdie at No. 9 to cap off a bogey-free week on the front nine with a 1-under 35. Her lone blemish on the back nine came with a bogey at No. 14, but she bounced right back with birdies at Nos. 15 and 17 to shoot her third-straight 70.

Ohma shot an even-par 72 in the final round of her first NCAA regional. The freshman opened an adventurous front nine with bogeys at Nos. 1, 3, 5 and 6 and birdies at Nos. 4 and 9 to make the turn with a 2-over 38. The birdie at nine would kick start the round for Ohma who made birdies at Nos. 10, 12, 14, 15 and 17 for a back-nine 31.

Karg made a bogey at No. 1, but followed with seven pars and a birdie at No. 9 for an even-par 36 on her outward nine. She closed strong on the back side with a pair of birdies at Nos. 13 and 17 to improve her score by a stroke for a third-straight round.

Britta Snyder finished her regional in a tie for 46th after a 2-over 74 on Wednesday. The junior made an early bogey at No. 3, but closed the front nine strong with birdies at Nos. 5 and nine for a 1-under 35 on the front. Snyder ran into trouble at No. 11 with a string of three-straight bogeys to drop back over par on the round. She finished strong with five-straight pars to get into the clubhouse with a 2-over 74.

HIGHLIGHTS

• BU’s 54-hole total of 841 is a new postseason program record.
• Its 841 is tied for the sixth best round in program history.
• 23-under is tied for the third-best score in relation to par in program history and is also a new postseason record.
• Sera Hasegawa’s 54-hole total of 204 is a new career best, and ranks as the second-best postseason total in program history.
• Hasegawa’s 204 is also the fifth-best 54-hole total in Baylor history.
• Hasegawa, Rosie Belsham and Hannah Karg all set or tied season-best 54-hole scores.

QUOTABLE:

Head coach Jay Goble: “We are excited to head back to Scottsdale and play for a national championship at Grayhawk for a third-straight season. We have a great team and I believe we all are thinking the third time is the charm for this team. Sera continues to play well, her game is built for this, and I am beyond proud of the way she represented herself and Baylor this week. Now it is time to get a little rest and get ready to make a run next week.”

WHAT’S NEXT

The Bears will make a third-straight trip to the NCAA Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. The tournament runs May 19-24 and will feature live coverage on the Golf Channel.

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