AUBURN, Wash. — UTSA opened play at the West Regional on Thursday with a 311 and the Roadrunners are in 17th place after the first round of play at the Washington National Golf Club (par 72, 6,321 yards).
UTSA avoided early morning rain with afternoon tee times but had to play on wet fairways and greens instead throughout the day.
Juniors Summer Batiste and Shannon Jungman led the way with 77s, which is tied for 54th in the individual standings.
Batiste shot one-over on the front nine with her lone bogey on No. 2 before coming in at four-over par. Meanwhile, Jungman shot two-over with a birdie on No. 8 for the front side and three-over on the back.
Not far behind was sophomore Paola Valerio and freshman Taylor Newlin who turned in scores of 78 and 79, respectively.
Valerio, this spring's Southland Conference Golfer of the Year, recorded a team-high three birdies to tie for 66th, while Newlin had an eagle on No. 15 and shot two-under on the back nine to tie for 78th.
Southland Freshman of the Year Fabiola Arriaga rounded out the scoring with an 82 that was highlighted by a birdie on No. 7.
The Roadrunners, who entered the field seeded 19th, finished the day ahead of several higher seeds including No. 4 Georgia (314), No. 10 Oklahoma (316) and No. 6 Pepperdine (318). Top-ranked USC leads the field after shooting even-par 288. Meanwhile, Tennessee’s Erica Popson shot a 68 to top the individual leaderboard.
The second round is scheduled to begin on Friday morning.
