By Michael Haag | Sports Editor
Following a 23-under 841, Baylor men’s golf notched a third-place finish at the Trinity Forest Invitational on Tuesday in Dallas. The trio of seniors Luke Dossey, Tyler Isenhart and Johnny Keefer led the way for the Bears with 3-under 69’s.
Tuesday’s finish marked Baylor’s best 54-hole stroke-play in a tournament since a second-place finish at the Arizona Intercollegiate in January of 2020.
Head coach Mike McGraw said the team is still getting better as it gets more events under its belt. McGraw said he’s already seen improvements among this group compared to last year’s.
“We’re continuing a trend, which is what we’ve been looking for,” McGraw said. “Last year, we never could get our feet on the ground, and we never got any positive momentum. We haven’t necessarily played great golf yet, but since day one of this year, you can see the little incremental improvements, which is great. We got to 23-under, which I was very happy with, but you can see this group’s momentum building.”
Dossey had another strong outing, finishing tied for 10th place individually, his third straight top-12 mark. The Austin native played his final five holes at 2-under, thanks to a pair of birdies on No. 15 and No. 16. Dossey also tied for the best par-3 scoring average in the field this week (2.75).
Isenhart trailed a few spots back, wrapping up the event tied for 13th, his third straight round at par or better. The Geneva, Ill., native reached red figures after a birdie at No. 7 and stayed bogey-free for the entire day.
Keefer’s 3-under 69 mirrored his performance on Monday, and the senior jumped 15 spots to tie for 27th. A couple of bogeys hurt him after an eagle at No. 2, but he finished strong with four birdies between No. 12 and No. 17.
Sophomore Zach Heffernan punched in his second under-par round of the event, as he carded a 1-under 71 to tie for 20th. Heffernan had an up-and-down Tuesday, but recorded birdies at No. 14 and No. 16 to prevent finishing over-par. Overall, Heffernan set a new career-best 54-hole score (214).
Junior Trey Bosco ended the outing tied for 32nd following a 2-over 74. Bosco played the front nine close to par, sitting at 1-over, but bogeyed three of his final four holes to bump to 2-over.
Freshman Jonas Appel played solely as an individual and wound up tied for seventh place, his second straight top-10 finish. Appel played three straight rounds at par or better on the event. The Encinitas, Calif., native now has three top-25 finishes in three events for the season.
The Bears now look toward Big 12 Match Play, scheduled for Oct. 17-19 at the Golf Club at Houston Oaks in Hockley.
