Baylor WGOLF Dominates Day Two at The Rainbow Wahine Invitational

KAPOLEI, Hawaii – Baylor women’s golf increased its lead by 10 shots on Tuesday at the Rainbow Wahine Invitational, carding a 4-under 284 at Kapolei Golf Course.

Rosie Belsham used a 2-under 70 to take hold of the individual lead by two shots through 36 holes. Freshman Yoonjeong Huh is close behind her teammate and tied for 4th at 1-under 143 through two rounds.

The Bears are 11 shots better than second-place New Mexico State and 19 shots clear of third-place UC Davis. Belsham is one of five Bears in the top-11 and six in the top-20 through 36 holes.

THE RUNDOWN

Belsham made an early bogey at No. 2 but added birdies at Nos. 3 and 8 to make the turn in red figures. She added two more birdies on the back nine on Nos. 12 and 17, before closing with a bogey at No. 18. The senior led the Bears for the second day in a row and sits in first place individually.

Yoonjeong Huh sits just four strokes behind Belsham in a tie for fourth. Starting on No. 2, the freshman went out with nine straight pars. Her first blemish came with a bogey on No. 11, but she claimed back-to-back birdies on Nos. 13 and 14 to push into red figures for the first time. A bogey at No. 15 was quickly erased with a birdie on No. 16 to close out the round on a high note.

Like Belsham, Sera Hasegawa carded an early bogey at No. 1, but recovered with two birdies at Nos. 2 and 6. On the back nine, the junior made seven pars around a pair of bogeys at Nos. 12 and 17.

Baylor’s Britta Snyder recorded a bogey-free 70 with birdies at Nos. 9 and 10. Her second-round score allowed her to ascend 12 places in the individual standings and finish the day tied for 11. 

Ashleen Kaur’s 1-over 74 moved her into a tie for 19th through two rounds. Starting on No. 3, the freshman picked up two birdies at Nos. 4 and 7. Bogeys at Nos. 10 and 16 dropped her back to even for the day. A birdie at No. 17 put her back in red figures before bogeys at Nos. 18 and 1 put her back over par for the day.

BaiMai Seema continued her strong play to lead the individuals, carding a second-straight even-par 72 to climb into a tie for 11th. Hannah Herbel finished the day in a tie for 81st on the heels of a 9-over 81, while Mallory Matthews is tied for 84th after an 8-over 80.

HIGHLIGHTS

Baylor leads the teams in par-3 (3.05), par-4 (3.97) and par-5 (4.93) scoring averages.

The Bears have 31 birdies, most in the tournament.

Belsham is second individually for par-3 scoring average (2.63).

Snyder carded her best round of the season for a second straight day.

Snyder’s bogey-free 70 is her first round at par or better since the second round of the Pullman Regional last season.

Yoonjeong Huh carded her second straight round at par or better.

BaiMai Seema’s even-par 144 is the best 36-hole score of her career.

QUOTABLE:

Head coach Jay Goble — “I was really proud of how we came out today and put the pedal down. We have five of the top-11 and six of the top-20 right now on the leaderboard, which makes a pretty strong statement. Rosie [Belsham] obviously has played really well to hold the 36-hole lead, but Amy [Huh] is right there also, along with a handful of her teammates, so I think if we come out tomorrow and take care of our business, we'll have a chance to have a lot of green and gold at the top of this leaderboard again."

WHAT’S NEXT

Baylor will begin the final round tomorrow at 2 p.m. CT, grouped with New Mexico State, UC Davis and CSU Fullerton. Live scoring and stats can be found on Golfstat.com.