By Tyler White | Sports Writer
Baylor men’s golf received the No. 6 seed in the NCAA Chapel Hill Regional, as announced during the 2024 NCAA Men’s Golf Selection Show on Wednesday afternoon. With their 25th appearance in the last 26 seasons, the Bears will look to achieve an NCAA Championship berth.
Head coach Mike McGraw said he’s looking forward to watching the team compete for a spot in nationals. He said he’s ready to see how the team performs on the “demanding” UNC Finley Golf Course.
“This golf course will test you, but par is a good score,” McGraw said. “The reality is, if you play well, you’re probably going to make it [to nationals]. If you don’t, you’re probably not going to make it. So ideally, we just need to do what we’ve been doing lately, and that will probably be good enough to get out.”
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The team is looking to build off its recent momentum following a fourth-place finish at the Big 12 Championship — which is the highest finish since the 2002 season. The Bears have advanced out of the regionals seven times in program history and five times under McGraw.
McGraw said it’s important for the team to utilize its experience with regionals. McGraw added that even someone as young as freshman Davis Ovard can thrive in this environment, due to his experience throughout the season.
“We have one new player that would not have been there and that’s Ovard, but [he] has played beautifully for a freshman,” McGraw said. “He’s actually played well no matter his age. He’s played a lot of good golf tournaments. So you add him into the mix, and he’s been one of our strongest players.”
McGraw said everyone else on the team played at regionals on what he considered a difficult golf course, so he feels confident going into Chapel Hill.
“Par was a good score [at the last regionals], and it will be a good score next week,” McGraw said. “So if you know par is a good score, and you have your mind in the right place, you’re probably going to be in pretty good shape — which I feel like we are right now.”
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Regionals will take place May 13-15 at the UNC Finley Golf Club in Chapel Hill, N.C. The Bears will compete to be one of the five teams that advance from Chapel Hill to the NCAA Championships, which will take place May 24-29 at the Omni La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, Calif.
