By Collin Bryant | Sports Writer
Baylor women’s golf’s lone senior Amy Lee hopes to lead the Bears to their first national championship this year. Lee placed seventh in the individual NCAA championships last year and helped lead the team to fifth in the team competition her first year with the university.
Baylor head coach Jay Goble said he believes Lee is talented enough to play professional golf, but that there are still things she needs to improve.
“Amy wants to play professional golf for a living, so for her she needs to continue to get better every day. There’s a few things that she needs to do, to help her game go to the next level,” Goble said. “She’s very capable. Talent-wise we’re talking about one of the best players in the country. When you get to this point it’s the little things, she’s going to get better and she’s going to play well for us.”
Lee finished last season with four top-five finishes, seven top-10s and 11 top-25s out of the 12 tournaments she played. She also broke Baylor’s single-season record with a 72.17 stroke average across the 35 tournament rounds she played last season.
After last season, Lee was also named a second team All-American after the 2016-2017 season, making her only the fourth person in the school’s history to receive such honors.
Lee said she believes her adjustment time is over, but that after such a great year she feels extremely prepared going into her final season.
“I’ve had my time to adjust to Baylor, and had a great year last year on campus and obviously on the course,” Lee said. “Last year was a really good year for me. I played extremely well. I probably had my best year yet in collegiate golf and that just gives me a lot of confidence going into my final year.”
Junior Maria Vsega said she was very confident playing this season, knowing that Lee would always be in the line-up for the Bears.
“It helps a lot because she’s the number one player on the team. She’s our senior and she’s a great motivator for the team, and we always know we can count on her score.” Vesga said.
Lee transferred from The University of Southern California her junior year. During her time at USC, she helped the team to a semifinal match at the 2015 NCAA Championships. Lee went 4-1 in match play events her freshman year, including a win over Stanford’s Mariah Stackhouse in National Championships semifinal match.
Lee finished tied for 36th with a four over par 217 in the Schooner Fall Classic over the weekend. She had rounds of 71, 75 and 71.
Baylor finished 12th in the tournament, shooting an 18 over par 870.
Lee hopes to lead the team to a tournament victory this weekend in the ANNIKA Intercollegiate at Olympic Hills Golf Club in Eden Prairie, Minn.
