MGOLF gets off to a solid start in the first round at the Morgan Hill Regional

MORGAN HILL, California. Tyler Isenhart led the Baylor men’s golf team to a fourth-place finish after the first round of the Morgan Hill Regional on Monday at Institute Golf Club.

Isenhart’s 3-under 69 is just two shots off the personal lead and was one of three scores at par or better for Baylor. by Drew Wrightson 1-under 71 and by Johnny Keefer an even par 72.

The Bears are nine shots back of first-round leader Mississippi State, but only seven shots separate Nos. 2-9. After Wednesday’s final round, the top five teams advance to the NCAA Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club next week. Missouri’s Alfons Bondesson shot a 5-under 67 to pace the field on Monday.

SUMMARY
First round

Starting on the back nine, Isenhart carded an early birdie at No. 11 and added another at No. 14. His only bogey of the day came at No. 15, but he bounced back with a birdie at No. 16 to make the round at 2-under 34. The senior made his fourth birdie of the day at No. 3 before finishing with six straight pars to finish in a tie for fifth.

Wrightson continued his strong play, breaking par for the third time in the last four rounds with a 1-under 71. The sophomore made a pair of birdies on 11 and 14, then bounced back with a bogey on No. 15 for a 1-under 35 on his opening nine. Wrightson moved to 3-under with two more birdies at Nos. 2 and 4, but made a pair of bogeys at Nos. 6 and 8 to end the day in a tie for 19th.^th.

Keefer opened with bogeys on Nos. 10 and 13, birdied around 13 for a 1-over 37 on the outside nine. Turning on the front nine, Keefer birdied No. 2 and another at No. 7 to get into the red, with his final bogey coming at No. 8 after dropping to even par and tied for 27th.^th.

Zach Heffernan shot 1-under 73 and finished the first round in a tie for 40th^th. The sophomore made an opening bogey on No. 10, but responded with two birdies on Nos. 11 and 13 to get to under par. A bogey on No. 18 saw him finish the tournament with a par 36. Up front, Heffernan made just one bogey on No. 7 for a 1-over 37 and finished his opening round with a 73.

Luke Dossey finished exactly 40^th 3-over 75 on Monday. The senior started with a birdie on No. 10 before making a quadruple bogey on No. 13 to drop to 3-over par. He responded with a birdie on No. 14, but closed out the outside nine with a 3-over bogey on No. 18. The Austin native closed strong with nine straight pars to play the final 14 holes at even par.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Baylor’s first-round score of 285 was its lowest postseason round since shooting a 277 in the final round of the Louisville Regional in 2019.
• The Bears won the par-fives on Monday, leading the field with a 4.60 stroke average.
• BU finished third best with 63 on Monday.
• by Tyler Isenhart The 3-under 69 is his lowest opening round this season and his lowest since a 3-under 69 at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate in 2020.
• Isenhart led the field in par-5 scoring (4.25).
• Drew Wrightson broke par for the third time in the last four rounds.
• In the opening round Zach Heffernan tied for fifth-best par-3 scoring average (2.75).
• Johnny Keefer shot his fourth round in par or better in seven career postseason rounds.
• Only four players made more pairs than that Luke Dossey in the first round (14).

STATISTICS OF THE DAY

Four of Baylor’s five players made their postseason debuts on Monday. Johnny Keefer is the only player with postseason experience before Monday.

WHAT NEXT

The Bears will play Lousiville and NC State in the second round on Tuesday the 10th beginning at 10:00 a.m. CT. Luke Dossey comes first and after that Zach Heffernan at 10:11 Johnny Keefer starts at 10:22, Drew Wrightson at 10:33 and Tyler Isenhart at anchor at 10:44

Live scores and statistics are available at Golfstat.com. For more information on Baylor Men’s Golf, follow @BaylorMGolf on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

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