Golf Teams Reach NCAA Quarters

June 1, 2017

Only two universities had both men’s and women’s golf teams reach the match-play portion of the NCAA Championships—Baylor and the University of Southern California.

The Lady Bears were the No. 7 seed in the match-play championships after posting a 53-over, 917 team score in the three-day stroke-play portion of the championship. Baylor fell to top-ranked Stanford, 3-2, in the quarterfinals.

Maggie Beth Byers, Baylor’s lone senior, and junior Amy Lee won their matches, but Stanford earned points against freshman Fiona Liddell, sophomore Maria Vesga and redshirt sophomore Dylan Kim. Lee earned second-team Women’s Golf Coaches Association All-America honors. She is the fourth All-American in program history, joining Hayley Davis (2012, 2013, 2015), Kim (2015) and Laura Lonardi (2016).

Head coach Jay Goble has led Baylor to the NCAA Tournament in five of six seasons with the program and is responsible for three of the program’s four NCAA Championships appearances. Baylor reached the match-play finals at the 2015 NCAA Championships.

Baylor’s men’s golf team also reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships. The No. 7 seed after posting a 7-over, 1159 team total in the four-day stroke-play portion of the event, the Bears fell to fellow Big 12 Conference member Oklahoma, 3-2, in the quarterfinals.

The team achieved the program’s best NCAA finish in head coach Mike McGraw’s third season with the Bears. Baylor’s previous best finish was a tie for ninth in 1960.

Freshman Cooper Dossey and sophomore Braden Bailey won their matches against eventual national champion Oklahoma. However, sophomore Garrett May and Hunter Shattuck, Baylor’s lone senior, were both edged, 1-up. The team match came down to junior Matthew Perrine, who tied Brad Dalke through 18 holes. Dalke won the first playoff hole, pushing the Sooners into the semifinals.

Among postseason honors, Dossey was named to the Golf Coaches Association of America All-Freshman Team, and Perrine was named Big 12 Scholar-Athlete of the year for men’s golf.