Texas returns to the top in the Big 12; Oklahoma State's Bailey the individual champion

    A year ago, a pretty strong Texas team could do no better than fifth place in the Big 12 Championship, seeing its run of three straight team crowns halted by Oklahoma State.

   Both teams went on to represent the Big 12 in fine fashion as the postseason wore on. They were two of the last eight teams standing for match play in the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., the Longhorns falling to eventual champion Mississippi in the quarterfinals and the Cowgirls reaching the Final Match before falling to Ole Miss.

   A lot has changed since then, but Texas climbed back to the top of the heap by holding on to edge Oklahoma State and Baylor by three shots for the team title in the Big 12 Championship, which concluded April 24^th at The Clubs at Houston Oaks in Hockley, Texas.

   Texas, which moved up a spot from No. 14 to No. 13 in the Golfstat rankings in the aftermath of the Big 12 Championship, trailed Baylor by three shots after opening with a 7-over 291 over the 6,356-yard, par-71 Houston Oaks layout with Oklahoma State four shots behind the Longhorns.

   Texas had the best team round of the tournament in the second round, a 3-over 287, in the weekend’s most difficult conditions and took a nine-shot lead over Oklahoma State into the final round. The Longhorns closed with a 14-over 298 to finish with a 24-over 876 total.

   Oklahoma State, behind individual champion Lianna Bailey, a senior from England, closed with its second straight 8-over 292 for a 27-over 879 total. The Cowgirls moved up from No. 8 to No. 6 in the Golfstat rankings following the Big 12 Championship.

   Baylor, which dropped a spot from No. 16 to No. 17 in the Golfstat rankings following its showing at Houston Oaks, had opened with a solid 4-over 288, but struggled in the second round with a 301. The Bears came on strong in the final round with a 6-over 290, but had to settle for a share of second with Oklahoma State with an 879.

   All three teams earned high seeds when the NCAA Regional fields were revealed a few days after the Big 12 Championship.

   Oklahoma State will be the top seed and playing on its home course, the Karsten Creek Golf Club, when the Stillwater Regional tees off Monday.

   But this isn’t even the same Oklahoma State team as the one that concluded the fall portion of the wraparound 2021-2022 season with a victory over Duke in the final of the East Lake Cup. It was the Cowgirls’ fourth tournament win in four starts in the fall.

   But Caley McGinty, the English woman who followed head coach Greg Robertson from Kent State to Oklahoma State when he got the job at his alma mater, announced she was entering the transfer portal. Robertson’s policy on the transfer portal is that if you’re in the transfer portal, you’re off the team.

   McGinty is No. 12 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) and has been named to the Great Britain & Ireland team for the Curtis Cup Match, which tees off in 35 days at Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course in the Ardmore section of Haverford Township, for the second straight time.

   Then, Isabella Fierro, the Mexican who is No. 24 in the Women’s WAGR, said she was entering the transfer portal and she was gone. She has announced her intention to join the program at Ole Miss, the team that beat the Cowgirls in the Final Match at Grayhawk a year ago.

   I’m not going to get into the pros and cons of the transfer portal, but talented golfers come and go all the time in college golf.

   Texas will be seeded third in the Albuquerque Regional. The Longhorns lost two outstanding players from last year’s team, Kaitlyn Papp and Agathe Laisne, to the pro ranks, although they didn’t depart in the middle of a season.

   Baylor will join Oklahoma State in the Stillwater Regional as a No. 3 seed.

   Iowa State, which moved up from No. 38 to No. 36 in the Golfstat rankings in the aftermath of the Big 12 Championship, finished eight shots behind Oklahoma State and Baylor in fourth place at Houston Oaks with a 35-over 887 total.

   The Cyclones opened with a solid 7-over 291, but struggled in the second round with a 302 before closing with a 10-over 294. Iowa State earned a spot in the field for the Stanford Regional as a six seed.

   Texas Christian, which dropped from No. 31 to No. 33 in the Golfstat rankings following its showing at Houston Oaks, finished four shots behind Iowa State in fifth place with a 39-over 891 total. The Horned Frogs opened with a solid 8-over 292, struggled to a 304 in the tough conditions in the second round and closed with a 295.

   No. 50 Oklahoma finished 10 shots behind TCU in sixth place with a 49-over 901 total. The Sooners added a 301 in the second round to their opening-round 302 before closing with a 298.

   TCU and Oklahoma will join Texas in the field at the Albuquerque Regional, the Horned Frogs seeded sixth and the Sooners as the nine seed.

   Bohyun Park, a freshman from Farmers Branch, Texas, and Sara Kouskova, a senior from the Czech Republic and No. 36 in the Women’s WAGR, led the way for Texas.

   Park was solid in the first two rounds, adding a 1-under 70 in the second round to her opening round of 1-over 72. She closed with a 75 to end up among a trio of players tied for third place with a 4-over 217 total.

   Kouskova, a veteran of the Longhorns’ run to the quarterfinals in the NCAA Championship a year ago, matched par in the opening round with a 71 and added a 74 in the second round before closing with a 2-over 73 as she finished alone in sixth place with a 4-over 218 total.

   Bentley Cotton, a sophomore from Austin, Texas, was also solid for the Longhorns as she matched par in the second round with a 71 after opening with a 74. Cotton struggled a little in the final round with a 77, but still finished in a tie for 11^th place with a 9-over 222 total.

   Sophie Guo, a junior from Orlando, Fla. who, like Kouskova, was in the lineup for the run to the match-play bracket at Grayhawk a year ago, finished alone in 27^th place with a 227 total. After struggling to an 82 in the opening round Guo bounced back with a 1-over 72 in the second round and then matched Kouskova for low-Longhorn in the final round with a 73.

   Rounding out the Texas lineup was Brigitte Thibault, a graduate student from Canada who transferred to Austin from Fresno State. Thibault was solid in the first two rounds with back-to-back 3-over 74s before struggling in the final round with a 82 as she landed among the group tied for 32^nd place with a 230 total.

   Bailey turned out to be a bright spot in Oklahoma State’s tumultuous spring. After opening with a 1-under 70, Bailey took control of the individual chase with a 3-under 68 in the second round as she was the only player to break 70 and one of just two players to break par and took a four-shot lead into the final round.

   After making birdies at the first and fifth holes to open her second round, Bailey made a bogey at six. But while the wind buffeted her competition, Bailey was rock solid, making pars on 11 of her final 12 holes, the exception an eagle at the par-5 11^th hole.

   Bailey struggled mightily in the final round, but an eagle at the par-5 16^th hole enabled her to finish up with a 77 that gave her a 2-over 215 total and the Big 12’s individual title.

   Baylor’s Addie Baggarly, a graduate transfer from Jonesborough, Tenn. who was a four-year standout at Florida, closed with a solid 1-under 70 to earn runnerup honors with a 3-over 216 total. Baggarly had opened with a 2-under 69, but struggled in the second round’s tough conditions with a 77.

   Bailey’s Oklahoma State teammate, Hun-Hsuan Yu, a senior from Taiwan, joined Texas’ Park and TCU’s Caitlyn Macnab, a freshman from South Africa and No. 46 in the Women’s WAGR, in the trio tied for third place, a shot behind Baggarly at 4-over 217.

   Yu added a 75 in the second round to her opening round of 3-over 74 before finishing up with the best round of the day in the final round, a 3-under 68, to get it to 4-over.

   Macnab grabbed the lead with her opening round of 3-under 68, but struggled to a 77 in the second round before closing with a solid 1-over 72.

   Another English woman, Baylor sophomore Rosie Belsham, finished alone in seventh place, two shots behind Texas’ Kouskova with a 7-over 220 total. Belsham matched par in the opening round with a 71, struggled to a 77 in the second round and finished up with a solid 1-over 72.

   A couple of Iowa State players, Liyana Durisic, a sophomore from Malaysia, and Taglao Jeeravivitaporn, a junior from Thailand, were among a trio of players tied for eighth place at 8-over 221, a shot behind Belsham.

   Durisic added a 74 in the second round to her opening-round 75 before finishing up with a solid 1-over 72. Jeeravivitaporn matched par in the opening round with a 71, struggled to a 78 in the second round and matched her teammate’s final round of 1-over 72.

   Rounding out the trio at 8-over was Oklahoma’s Hannah Screen, a senior from England who transferred to Norman last year after starting her collegiate career at Houston. Screen carded back-to-back 2-over 73s in the first two rounds before closing with a 75.