Baylor Women’s Golf Tied for Seventh at NCAA East Lansing Regional
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Baylor women’s golf shot 9-over-par 297 in Tuesday’s second round of the NCAA East Lansing Regional, climbing one spot into a tie for seventh place at 19-over 595 through two rounds. The Bears enter Wednesday’s final round at Forest Akers West Golf Course just three shots back of the top-six team cut to advance to the NCAA Championship.
No. 32 Baylor (+19) trails only No. 12 Kent State (-3), No. 5 Arizona (-2), No. 14 UCLA (+5), No. 4 Stanford (+12), Indiana (+16) and No. 28 Illinois (+16). The Bears are tied with LSU (+19) and lead No. 20 Michigan State (+20), No. 45 Augusta (+23), No. 21 Campbell (+26), Xavier (+26), No. 39 Georgia (+29), No. 41 Louisville (+33), No. 33 North Carolina (+35), Harvard (+40), Long Beach State (+50) and IUPUI (+58).
The Bears were led by sophomore Gurleen Kaur, who shot 3-under 69 in Tuesday’s second round to move into a tie for third place individually at 2-under 142. Senior Maria Vesga shot 2-over 74 to move into a tie for 38th place at 6-over 150, while junior Erica Chiang carded 3-over 75 to tie for 19th place at 3-over 147. Freshman Emma Bradley posted Baylor’s final counting score at 7-over 79, which has her tied for 80th place at 14-over 158, and sophomore Diane Baillieux shot 11-over 83 to move into a tie for 84th place at 16-over 160.
BU moved ahead of tournament-host No. 20 Michigan State and No. 21 Campbell by posting the sixth-best score on Tuesday. The Bears need to move into the top six after Wednesday’s final round to extend their streak to a school-record three consecutive years with NCAA Championship appearances.
In addition to the top six teams, the top three individuals on non-advancing teams earn NCAA Championship individual berths. BU has advanced through Regionals to the NCAA Championship in each of its last three postseason appearances in 2015, 2017 and 2018.
HIGHLIGHTS
Baylor ranks fifth in the 18-team field in par-5 scoring at 4-under 4.90, seventh in par-3 scoring at 8-over 3.20 and tied for 13th in par-4 scoring at 33-over 4.33.
BU ranks third in the field with three eagles through two rounds.
The Bears rank seventh with 22 birdies, but tied for 15th with 96 pars.
Kaur ranks second in the 96-player field in par-3 scoring at 2-under 2.75 and tied for sixth in par-5 scoring at 3-under 4.63.
Chiang is tied for 15th in par-4 scoring at 2-over 4.10.
Kaur is one of three tied for the tournament lead with two eagles, and she’s tied for seventh with seven birdies.
Baillieux is tied for 11th in the tournament with six birdies.
STAT OF THE DAY
2-under – Baylor’s counting scores shot a combined 2-under on par-5 holes on Tuesday. Kaur was 1-under across the four par-5 holes, while Vesga was 2-under, Chiang was 1-over and Bradley shot even-par.
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor is paired with LSU and Michigan State for Wednesday’s final round, which tees off at 7:03 a.m. CT. Baillieux has the Bears’ first tee time at 7:03 a.m., and she’ll be followed by Bradley at 7:14 a.m., Vesga at 7:25 a.m., Chiang at 7:36 a.m. and Kaur at 7:47 a.m. Live scoring is available at www.golfstat.com.