BRYAN, Texas — Lauren Rios led UTSA in the first round of the “Mo”Morial Invitational, which got underway Monday at Traditions Club (par 72/6,406 yards).
Rios is tied for 26th place and the Roadrunners are in 12th through 18 of 54 holes scheduled for the three-day tournament.
Facing tough playing conditions that resulted in average first-round score of 79.33, Rios carded a 5-over-par 77 to pace UTSA. The senior from Coppell, Texas, logged 13 pars during her opening 18 holes, as she is only three shots out of the top 10 in the individual race.
The Roadrunners registered a 317, three shots ahead of Lipscomb and seven in front of Charlotte while sitting only six strokes out of the top 10 teams.
Maria Bastarrica is one shot behind Rios in a tie for 34th after turning in a 78. The junior from Spain wrote down a team-best three birdies on her opening-round scorecard, including back-to-back on the 511-yard, par-5 fifth and 354-yard, par-4 sixth holes.
Victoria Schuldt has a share of 47th at 8-over, as the true freshman from Germany posted an 80 that was headlined by a birdie on the 391-yard, par-4 third.
Kayla Black and Daniela Abonce round out the UTSA lineup in 62nd (82) and 68th (83), respectively, while Sydney Bisgrove is in 71st (84) as an individual.
Tulsa has the day-one lead in the team race with a 301, followed by a tie between No. 3 Texas A&M and No. 35 Missouri (302).
A&M’s Vanessa Borovilos posted the only red number on the day with a 71 to stake her claim to the individual lead.
The second round is set for Tuesday with tee times beginning at 8:30 a.m.
-UTSA-