May 17, 2006

NCAA West Regional Preview
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2006 NCAA WEST REGIONAL
Dates: Thursday-Saturday, May 18-20
Location: Omni Tucson National G.C.; Tucson, Ariz.
Par/Yardage: 72/7,200
Host: Arizona
Field (listed in order of seed): 27 (Florida, Arizona State, BYU, East Tennessee State, Baylor, Alabama ,Arizona, San Diego State, North Carolina State, Washington, New Mexico, Stanford, Houston, Pepperdine, Louisville, Denver, Santa Clara, New Mexico State, Fresno State, UC-Irvine, Nevada, San Diego, Cal Poly, Western Kentucky, Loyola Marymount, Jackson State, Bucknell).
At stake: 10 team and two individual berths to the 2006 NCAA Men's Golf Championship.
Live scoring: Golfstat

The Baylor men's golf team, seeded fifth out of 27 teams, will make its ninth straight regional appearance as it competes in the NCAA West Regional Thursday through Saturday at the 7,200-yard, par-72 Omni Tucson National Golf Club in Tucson, Ariz.

The Bears will participate in a practice round Wednesday at 8:40 a.m. PDT. Baylor is paired with East Tennessee State and Alabama in the first round and will tee off from the 10th at 11:48 a.m. PDT. Tee times for the second and third rounds will be determined by the standings at the end of each day.

Baylor will be looking to make its first national championship appearance since 2002. The top 10 teams from each of the three regionals will advance to the 2006 NCAA Men's Golf Championships May 31-June 3 at Crosswater Golf Club at Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Ore.

The Bears are coming off a second-place finish at The Maxwell last weekend in Ardmore, Okla. The Bears shot 51-under par for the 54-hole tournament, and three players finished in the top 10. Junior Jeremy Alcorn returned to the lineup and led the way, finishing third at 6-under par. Junior Chase Thomas tied for sixth and junior Jeremy Frye tied for 10th, both shooting below par for the tournament.

Senior Ryan Baca tied for 16th last week, but continues to lead the Bears with a 70.67 stroke average, which would break Aaron Pellegrom's school record of 71.61 set during the 1999-2000 season. Baca is Baylor's all-time leader in victories, tied for the lead in top-10 finishes and one top-five finish from tying the record.

Redshirt freshman Carmine Mediate will be making his first-ever postseason appearance, as he was not in the lineup for the Bears at the 2006 Big 12 Championship. He tied for 22nd at The Maxwell, shooting three-over par.

The Bears are making their third straight regional appearance under head coach Greg Priest. He has guided the Bears to thier highest-ever national ranking (8th), six tournament victories, six runner-up finishes and coached Baca and Alcorn to a combined nine individual titles. Both players have earned PING All-America honors during Priest's tenure, and Baca was a semifinalist for the Ben Hogan Award this year, collegiate golf's top honor.

BAYLOR LINEUP
Player                  Season Avg. (Rds.)
Jeremy Alcorn (Jr.)             72.42 (33)
Ryan Baca (Sr.)                 70.67 (36)
Jeremy Frye (Jr.)               73.39 (36)
Carmine Mediate (R-Fr.)	        73.14 (14)
Chase Thomas (Jr.)	        74.87 (23)

Jeremy Alcorn [Junior]: Tied for third his last time out at The Maxwell, firing rounds of 71, 67 and 68 for a season-low 54-hole total of 204...Tied for 49th at the Morris Williams Intercollegiate, shooting 224 (76-74-74)...Tied for seventh at the Border Olympics with a score of 216 (74-69-73)...Won his fifth career individual title and the Bears' fourth individual title in a row at the Louisiana Classics, moving him only one victory behind teammate Ryan Baca, the school's all-time leader in wins...Fired 9-under par 207 (69-67-71)...Tied for 13th at the Lexus Naples Intercollegiate Invitational with a score of 214 (70-73-71)...Finished 12th at the UTSA Intercollegiate, shooting 218 (75-73-70)...Appeared in all four fall events...Tied for 25th at the Hawai'i Fall Invitational with a score of 224 (75-73-76)...Claimed his fourth career individual title to tie for the most wins in Baylor's history since 1988 at the Baylor Invitational...Shot 211 (71-72-68) and tied his season-low with a final-round 68...Tied for third at the Mason Rudolph Championship with a 213 (71-74-68)...Tied for 40th at the season-opening William H. Tucker, shooting 221 (73-75-73)...Second overall on the team with a 72.42 stroke average...Ranks seventh in the Big 12 Conference and 45th nationally according to Golfstat.

Ryan Baca [Senior]: Ranks fourth nationally according to Golfweek...Named to the eight-member Palmer Cup team, which will square off against Europe in Ryder Cup-style format June 29-30 in Prestwick, Scotland...Won three straight tournaments, giving him a Baylor record six individual titles, one more than junior teammate Jeremy Alcorn...Leads the team with a 70.67 stroke average, which would shatter the school record of 71.61 set by Aaron Pellegrom during the 1999-2000 season...Tied for 16th his last time out at The Maxwell, where he shot 212 (74-68-70)...Tied for 25th at the Big 12 Championship, shooting 223 (74-73-76)...Finished second at The Aggie Invitational, firing 212 (71-72-69) and breaking the school record with his 27th career top-10 finish...Tied for 25th at the Morris Williams Intercollegiate, shooting 218 (71-76-71), the first time this season he has finished a tournament over par...Finished second at the Border Olympics with his second-lowest total of the season, 204 (67-67-70)...Tied for sixth at the Louisiana Classics with a score of 213 (68-71-74)...Recorded his third straight victory at the Lexus Naples Intercollegiate Invitational by firing a 205 (68-70-67)...Won the UTSA Intercollegiate, setting the Baylor 54-hole school record with a 199 (64-67-68)...His opening-round 64 was a career high...Played in all four fall events...Lost on the fourth playoff hole but still gets credit for a win at the Hawai'i Fall Invitational...Shot 214 (68-73-73)...Tied for fourth at the Baylor Invitational with a score of 214 (73-73-68)...Tied for 11th at the Mason Rudolph Championship with a score of 215 (71-70-74)...Tied for 10th at the season-opening William H. Tucker, shooting 215 (70-72-73)...Broke Jimmy Walker's school record with his 27th career top-10 finish...With his six top-5 finishes this year, he has raised his total to 18, one within Walker (19)...Has fired 24 rounds of par or better (20 below par) out of 36.

Jeremy Frye [Junior]: Recorded his fifth top-10 finish of the season and seventh of his career, tying him for 10th on Baylor's all-time list, by tying for 10th at The Maxwell his last time out...He shot a season-low 209 with rounds of 69, 70 and 70...Tied for 49th at the Big 12 Championship, shooting 230 (71-79-80)...Tied for 31st at The Aggie Invitational, shooting 230 (78-78-74)...Tied for 68th at the Morris Williams Intercollegiate, shooting 228 (83-74-71)...Recorded three straight top-10 finishes before tying for 36th at the Border Olympics, where he shot 223 (74-73-76)...Tied for sixth at the Louisiana Classics with a score of 213 (72-68-73)...Tied for seventh at the Lexus Naples Intercollegiate Invitational with a score of 212 (76-68-68)...Tied for eighth, his second top-10 finish of the season and fourth of his career at the UTSA Intercollegiate...Shot 215 (75-69-71)...Appeared in all four fall events...Tied for 16th at the Hawai'i Fall Invitational, shooting 221 (76-69-76)...Tied for 35th at the Baylor Invitational with a score of 225 (79-73-73)...Had his best tournament of the fall by tying for seventh and firing 214 (73-70-74) at the Mason Rudolph Championship...Tied for 47th at the season-opening William H. Tucker with a score of 222 (74-80-68)...Rebounded from his only 80 round of the season by firing a career-low 68 in the third round...Has since matched his career-low 68 on three other occasions.

Carmine Mediate [Redshirt Freshman]: Making his fourth start for the Bears this season...Tied for 22nd his last time out at The Maxwell, matching his season-low with a 213 (70-73-70)...Finished 10th at the Bearkat Classic with a total of 218 (72-72-74)...Finished seventh at the Harbor Lakes Invitational with a total of 153 (77-76)...Tied for 34th at the Hawai'i Fall Invitational with a score of 227 (71-76-80)...Posted his highest career finish by placing third at the Baylor Invitational with a score of 213 (70-70-73).

Chase Thomas [Junior]: Making his fourth straight start and seventh overall for the Bears this season...Tied for sixth with a career-low total of 207 (67-69-71) his last time out at The Maxwell...Was the Bears' highest finisher at the Big 12 Championship, tying for 15th with a total of 219 (70-75-74)...Tied for 39th playing individually at The Aggie Invitational, carding a 232 (77-78-77)...Finished second at the Bearkat Classic, firing 211 (72-70-69)...Tied for 30th at the Harbor Lakes Invitational, shooting 164 (86-78)...Tied for 43rd in his last start for the Bears at the UTSA Intercollegiate with a score of 227 (78-74-75)...Tied for 48th at the Baylor Invitational with a score of 228 (79-75-74)...Tied for 59th at the Mason Rudolph Championship, shooting 234 (78-82-74)...Was the Bears' top finisher and made the All-Big 12 Championship Team at last year's tournament...Earned Academic All-Big 12 First-Team honors last week.

NOTES
Baylor at the NCAA Regionals

2005  T-17th   Top Finisher: Colton Turnquist (T-20th)
2004    25th   Top Finisher: Ryan Baca (T-51st)
2003    27th   Top Finisher: Ryan Baca (T-33rd)
2002     7th   Top Finisher: Jamie McLeary (T-12th)
2001    20th   Top Finisher: Jimmy Walker (T-5th)
2000	10th   Top Finisher: Jimmy Walker (T-10th)
1999  T-15th   Top Finisher: Aaron Pellegrom (T-48th)
1998    19th   Top Finisher: Aaron Pellegrom (T-48th)
1993    13th   Top Finisher: Kory Bowman (15th)
1990    14th   Top Finisher: Soren Bjorn (T-28th)

Quite a Streak...
Baylor will be making its ninth straight NCAA Regional appearance and 11th in school history.

Breaking Through...
While Baylor has been in the postseason the previous eight years, the Bears have advanced to the NCAA Championship only once...The Bears last made it to the championship in 2002 by virtue of their seventh-place finish in the NCAA Central Regional in Stillwater, Okla.

Change of Scenery...
Baylor had been seeded in the NCAA Central Regional in all 10 of its previous postseason appearances, but was sent to the NCAA West Regional for the first time this year...The Bears are the fifth seed in the regional.

Representing the Big 12...
The Big 12 Conference has 11 teams represented in the 2006 NCAA Regional fields, the most of any other conference; however, Baylor is the only team in the West Regional and Texas Tech is the only league school in the East Regional...The other nine will be competing in the Central Regional...The Southeastern Conference has the second-most in the NCAA Regional fields with nine, while the Atlantic Coast, Pac-10 and Big Ten Conferences have six each.

Baca Named to Palmer Cup Team...
Senior Ryan Baca was named to the eight-man United States Palmer Cup team, which will compete against Europe June 29-30 at Prestwick Golf Club in Prestwick, Scotland...The Palmer Cup is a Ryder Cup-style competition, and the U.S. leads the all-time series 5-3-1...Joining Baca on the team are Duke's Ryan Blaum, Roberto Castro, Georgia Tech's Kevin Larsen, Georgia's Brian Harman and Chris Kirk, Vanderbilt's Luke List and BYU's Clay Ogden.

Baca's Career Year...
After redshirting the 2004-05 season, the time off has rejuvenated senior Ryan Baca, who has assaulted the Baylor record books in 2005-06...Baca has already broken the school records for victories with six, top-10 finishes with 27 and broke the 54-hole scoring record and became the first player in Baylor history to break 200 with a 199 to win the UTSA Intercollegiate, the second of a record three straight victories...He has 18 top-five finishes, one away from tying Jimmy Walker for the all-time lead, he came within one stroke of the all-time best round, firing a 64 in the opening round of the UTSA Intercollegiate and is on pace to shatter the single-season stroke average record of 71.61 by more than one full stroke as he is currently sitting at 70.67...Baca was also named Big 12 Conference Golfer of the Month on consecutive occasions (November and February)...He was also one of 10 semifinalists for the Ben Hogan Award, presented annually to the nation's top collegiate golfer.