AUSTIN, Texas — UTSA battled bitter conditions and a loaded field on Monday for the opening day of the Betsy Rawls Invitational at the University of Texas Golf Club (par 72/6,473 yards).
The Roadrunners are in 11th place after the first two rounds of the 54-hole tournament that features seven nationally ranked teams. UTSA opened with a 337 and then registered a 20-stroke improvement for the second round with a 317. The Roadrunners’ 654 has them four shots ahead of Harvard and Houston Christian and only six strokes out of the top 10.
Facing temperatures near 40 degrees and a strong wind that produced wind chills in the 30s to start the day, the field of 90 players combined for an average score of 84.14 in the first round. That number improved to just 78.77 for the afternoon round.
Individually for UTSA, Lauren Rios is tied for 33rd after posting a 160. The Coppell, Texas, native bounced back from an 82 in the opening round with a 78 in round two on the strength of three birdies. She wrote down three on both the 374-yard sixth and 363-yard 13th holes before notching her third circled number with a two on the 16th.
Daniela Abonce and Victoria Schuldt are two shots behind Rios in a tie for 40th. Abonce, a senior from Mexico, turned in rounds of 82 and 80 with three birdies highlighting her second round. Schuldt, a freshman from Germany, opened with an 83 before a trio of birdies — including back-to-back on Nos. 13-14 — helped her record a 79 in the afternoon.
Maria Bastarrica and Sydney Bisgrove round out the UTSA lineup in 74th (90-82—172) and 83rd (95-80—175), respectively.
No. 7 and host Texas leads the 16-team field with a 304-285—589, followed by ninth-ranked Arkansas (608), No. 33 LSU (609), No. 31 Oklahoma (618) and 10th-ranked Pepperdine (620) in the top five.
In an individual field that includes 14 of the nation’s top-100 golfers, LSU’s Elsa Svensson has the 36-hole lead at even-par 144 (74-70).
The final round is scheduled for an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start on Tuesday.
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