Baylor Women’s Golf Season Ends with 17th Place finish at NCAA Championships

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Baylor women’s golf saw their run at Grayhawk end Sunday with a 19-over 883, leaving them two shots outside the 15-team cut for Monday’s final round.

On a difficult day where every team finished over par, the Bears shot a 16-over 304. In her final round as a Bear, Hannah Karg led the team with a 2-over 74 that matched her first-round score, which tied her career-best round at Grayhawk.

Defending champion Stanford rose to the top of the leaderboard and leads by six shots entering the final round. As the championship moves to La Costa in the San Diego area next year, the Bears leave Grayhawk with an average finish of 16.3 in three trips to the desert.

THE RUNDOWN

Starting on the back nine for a second day in a row, Karg made a bogey at No. 12 but got it back with a birdie at No. 14. The senior made one final bogey on her outward nine at No. 5 to make the turn with a 1-over 37. Following a bogey at No. 1, the senior played her final eight holes bogey-free to finish her Baylor career in a tie for 77th.

Rosie Belsham shot a 4-over 76 to record a tie for 85th. The junior played her first four holes at 2-over with bogeys at Nos. 11 and 13, before dropping two more shots with a double bogey at No. 16. Belsham got a stroke back with a birdie at No. 17 for a 3-over 39 on her first nine. The Whitley Bay, England, native made a bogey at No. 1, but played her final eight holes at even par with a birdie at No. 5 and a bogey at No. 6 to sign for her 76.

BaiMai Seema finished her tournament with a 5-over 77. The sophomore broke into red figures with a birdie at No. 11 but gave it back with a bogey at No. 12. She made two more bogeys at Nos. 15 and 16, before closing her first nine with a birdie at No. 18. After three pars to open the back nine, Seema made a bogey at No. 4 and a double-bogey at No. 5, finishing her round with a bogey at No. 9 to get into the clubhouse with her second-best round at Grayhawk.

Silje Ohma finished her first NCAA Championship with a 5-over 77 and a tie for 65th. The freshman bogeyed four out of her first six holes, but birdied No. 18 to make the turn with a 3-over 39. On the front nine, she ran into some trouble with a double bogey at No. 3, but was able to get a stroke back with a birdie at No. 4. The trouble continued with back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 5 and 6, before she added one final birdie at No. 7 to close out the round.

Sera Hasegawa had her school-record streak of five-straight postseason rounds under par snapped with a 7-over 79 on Sunday. The sophomore made an early double bogey at No. 12, adding a bogey at 15 and another double at 16. She made a birdie at No. 17 to make the turn with a 4-over 40. She strung together four-straight pars on the front nine until a triple-bogey at No. 4 and a bogey at No. 5 saw her drop four more shots. Hasegawa played her final four holes at 1-under par, highlighted by a birdie at No. 8 to finish tied for 47th.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Baylor is one of eight teams to make the NCAA Championships in five of the last six seasons.
• Sera Hasegawa finished her season with a stroke average of 71.04, setting a new single-season program record.
• Rosie Belsham finished the season with a stroke average of 71.71, which now ranks behind only Hasegawa.
• Silje Ohma’s stroke average of 71.90 this season ranks as the third-best in program history.
• In her two rounds as a sub, BaiMai Seema had a stroke average of 73.5, which was over a shot better than the stroke average for the week (74.45).
• Seema had a team-leading 93% of her rounds count towards the team score this season.
• Hannah Karg recorded her career-best finish at the NCAA Championships with a tie for 77th.
• Karg finishes her Baylor career with a stroke average of 74.14 which ranks among the top 10 career stroke averages in program history.

QUOTABLE:

Head coach Jay Goble on the end of the season: “It's kind of a bittersweet day. To make it here three years in a row with three great teams has been really impressive, but we have also played poorly here three years in a row with great teams. So, I love that we're making it and that we're continuing to compete with the top teams in the country out here, but we're all competitors, and we want to win, so it's hard to finish your season this way. I have absolutely loved coaching this group. They are tremendously talented, and a lot of them will be back next year to chase down a national championship again at La Costa."

Goble on Hannah Karg’s Baylor career: “I couldn't be prouder of how she's handled herself this year. She was an awesome teammate this year and played fantastic. She played really solid again this week, she just didn't get any putts to drop. She's been a huge asset to this group, and we're definitely going to miss her. She brings life to the party, and her legacy at Baylor is going to be a good one. She's played on some great teams, and she’s won a bunch of golf tournaments as part of the team here. We've done a lot of really cool things in the last three years, and she's been right in the middle of it.”

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