By Laurean Love
Reporter
Junior Ryan O’Rear led the Baylor men’s team to his career-best performance with a fourth-place finish at 4-under-par, and freshman Hayley Davis led the Baylor women’s team at second-place in her first collegiate tournament with a 2-under-par.
Baylor men and women’s golf teams were on the road Monday and Tuesday. The men’s team was in Ann Arbor, Mich., at the Wolverine Intercollegiate where they finished second at 1-under-par, and the women’s season opener was in Fort Collins, Colo., at the Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic and finished sixth at 21-over-par.
“I’m fairly pleased with how we played this week,” women’s head coach Jay Goble said in a press release. “I still feel like we left a lot of shots on the course. Now that we have the first tournament under our belts, we know which areas need improvement.”
O’Rear shot a 4-under 209 and had his career-best finish with a final-round even-par 72. O’Rear finished three strokes behind Missouri’s Jace Long, individual champion, who shot a 66 in his final round. Long shot a 7-under 206 which was only one stroke ahead of the second-round leader, Cal’s Joel Stalter.
“Ryan didn’t hit the ball that well this week, but was still able to score low all three rounds,” head coach Greg Priest said in a press release. “I’m trying to get the guys to understand that you’re not going to hit the ball great every time. You need to stay patient and concentrate on scoring and that’s what Ryan was able to do.
“I knew eventually performances like this from Ryan were going to come,” Priest said. “He’s been very consistent for us; it’s still early in the season, but his best is yet to come.”
Davis shot a 2-under 214 and had a final-round score of 75. Davis finished three strokes behind UC Davis’s Demi Runas, individual champion, who shot a 74 in the final round.
“Hayley’s an awesome golfer and she’s good enough to win just about every tournament we’re in, if she’s on her game,” Goble said. “She hit the ball well in the final round, but didn’t have as many putts falling like Monday.”
The Lady Bears finished 21-over with a total score of 885, which was 12 strokes behind tournament champions UC Davis who shot a final score of 9-over. Illionis and Colorado shot an 11-over and tied for second, while Texas Tech shot a 16-over for a fourth place finish and California shot a 17-over for a fifth place finish.
The BU men finished in second at one-under with a total score of 851 behind the team champion California, which shot 13-under-par with a total score of 839.
“The course set up a lot harder during the final round,” Priest said. “I thought we were playing pretty well through 11 holes, but we had too many bogeys down the stretch. Even with the high numbers, we were able to hang in there and finish second.”
Senior Joakim Mikkelsen for the men’s team finished with even with par and came in 10th. Freshman Mikkel Bjerch-Andresen finished two-over for a 16th place tie. Senior Lorenzo Scotto finished with three-over for 18th place, and freshman Kyle Jones scored a seven over for 29th place.
“We played well the entire week,” Priest said. “There are a few things that need to be corrected, but I like what I see in the guys.”
Senior Chelsey Cothran for the women’s team finished six-over par for 17th place. Freshman Stani Schiavone scored 10-over-par for a 33rd place finish, while senior Valerie Sternebeck scored 11-over for 38th place, and senior Jaclyn Jansen finished with 16-over for 56th place.
The Lady Bears’ next event will be at the Dick Maguire Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M., Sept. 25 and 26.
The BU men will have an off week next week before returning on Oct. 1 and 2 at the Rod Myers Invitational in Durham, N.C.
