Baylor Women’s Golf Battles into Second After Marathon Day at Arizona Thunderbird Intercollegiate
TUCSON, Ariz. - It was a grind-it-out kind of Monday at the Arizona Thunderbird Intercollegiate, and the No. 21 Baylor Bears showed they’re built for it. After nearly 13 hours on the course, they walked away not just tired, but in strong position-sitting in second place through 36 holes at the par-72 Tucson Country Club.
The Bears shaved five strokes off their morning round to card a 2-over 290 in the afternoon, bringing their two-round total to 9-over 585. That effort has them trailing only top-ranked Stanford, who leads the 15-team field at 5-under 571.
Host school No. 22 Arizona is close behind Baylor at 11-over 587.
It wasn’t just a long day-it was a long day. Play began before sunrise and stretched into the evening, with darkness forcing a suspension of play for seven teams still finishing up. Baylor, however, got all five players through their rounds, and they made it count.
Senior Silje Ohma delivered the kind of performance that turns heads. After a slow start, she locked in and fired a 3-under 69 in the second round, putting her at 4-under 140 overall-good for a tie for second place individually. She trails Stanford’s Andrea Revuelta, who’s been lights-out with a 9-under 135.
Ohma’s back-nine surge wasn’t just impressive-it was clutch. She now sits tied for second in the field in total birdies with nine, showing off the kind of shot-making that can win tournaments.
“Silje didn’t start her best, but played really solid golf the last 27 holes of the day,” said head coach Jay Goble. “She just hung in there and found her rhythm.”
Sophomore Malena Castro had her own bounce-back moment. After going 3-over through her first seven holes of the second round, she flipped the script with five birdies down the stretch to shoot 2-under for the round. That resilience has her tied for 13th at 1-over 145.
“Malena’s round was amazing,” Goble added. “To be 3-over early and fight back like that-it shows a lot of heart.”
Senior Bridget Boczar added consistency to the mix, posting back-to-back rounds of 2-over 74. She’s tied for 17th at 4-over 148, giving Baylor three players inside the top 20-a key factor in their strong team standing.
Freshman Amelia Wan rounded out the team’s scoring with an 8-over 152, while fellow freshman Paloma Ibarra Ambia, still adjusting to collegiate play, sits tied for 73rd at 19-over 163.
Baylor will look to make a final push in Tuesday’s closing round, which gets underway with a shotgun start at 9:30 a.m. CT. With Stanford out in front and Arizona close behind, the Bears are right in the thick of a high-level leaderboard.
It’s been a long road already-but there’s still one more round to go. And Baylor’s not backing down.