AUSTIN — Led by a 2-under-par effort from Brogan Townend, the UTSA women's golf team is in eighth place after the first round of the Betsy Rawls Invitational, which began on Sunday at the University of Texas Golf Club (par 72,6,225 yards).
Townend carded a 70 and is in a tie for eighth in the 81-player field with 36 holes left to play. The junior posted four birdies on the front nine en route to a 33 and had two more on the back before a double bogey on the par-4 18th. The Blackburn, England, native is five shots off the 7-under pace set by Baylor's Hayley Davis and Iowa State's Chonlada Chayanun.
Becky McGeehan is two shots behind Townend after an even-par round. The freshman had four birdies, including a pair on a bogey-free back nine, and is tied for 13th.
Abby Portyrata fired a 76 and is tied for 42nd, while Nikki Long and Aimee Ponte both registered a 79 and are in 58th.
The Roadrunners posted a 9-over 297, which is good for eighth in the 15-team field, three strokes behind Tulsa and six out of the top five. No. 16 UNLV leads after turning in a 4-under 284, followed by 43rd-ranked SMU (286), Baylor (288), No 44 Texas (291), Tulane (291) and No. 36 Iowa State (291).
Round two is slated to get underway with tee times beginning at 8:15 a.m. on Monday.