BYU women’s golf finished the first day of the Betsy Rawls Invitational in eighth place at 65-over par, with play suspended due to darkness on March 16 at UT Golf Club in Austin, Texas.
The tournament saw challenging conditions for all teams, with cold temperatures and strong winds affecting play. Head coach Carrie Roberts said, “Super tough golf course. Wind chill was 29, only as high as 39, and wind was blowing 30 miles per hour.”
Despite the difficult weather, BYU improved its performance in the second round by reducing its score by 35 strokes compared to the first round. Lily McCauley led BYU, finishing at 12-over par and tied for 22nd place. She also made one of only three eagles recorded by any player during the day. Maria Jose “MJ” Barragan was unable to finish her second round before play was halted but stood at 15-over par and tied for 30th with one hole remaining.
Other BYU players included Whitney Banz, who completed two rounds at 19-over par and shared 43rd place; Berlin Long, who had the best second round among Cougars that finished play and tied for 59th at 23-over par; and Kanyanol (Naji) Aramkul, who ended her day at 25-over par in 66th position.
Host team Texas led after Monday’s play at 17-over par with two holes left in their second round. The Longhorns had four players inside the top-10 individually and led all teams with a total of 21 birdies. Arkansas followed in second place at 32-over par, LSU was third at 37-over par, Oklahoma fourth at 42-over par, and Pepperdine rounded out the top five at 44-over par.
The Cougars will complete their second round before starting the final round on Tuesday morning. Live scoring is available on Scoreboard along with updates on social media.
