PALM DESERT, Calif. – Kate Tran and Madigan Murray are both in a tie for 10th place overall following the opening two rounds of Wyoming's Cowgirl Desert Intercollegiate from The Classic Club on Saturday.
 
Overall, the UT Arlington women's golf team is in sole possession of 8th place following rounds of 319 and 321 (640) to reside four shots ahead of Cal State Northridge (644). Cal Poly paces the 10-team field with a 598 total through the opening 36 holes, five strokes clear of 2nd-place UTEP (603).
 
Tran opened with a 78 in the 1st round, but rebounded with a 1-over 73 in the 2nd round and is +7 (151) after action on Saturday; the junior moved up 13 spots from her 1st-round leaderboard position – tied for the 4th-best improvement in the field of 63. Murray, meanwhile, also worked her way to the aforementioned T-10 position with rounds of 74-77 (151, +7); the McKinney native was in a T-5 spot following the opening 18.

"Kate and Madigan played really consistent and solid," said head coach Catherine Matranga. "The wind was steady, gusty and swirled at times, but they didn't let that affect them."
 
Sydney Garber signed for rounds of 82-82 (164), while Janane Tan recorded rounds of 85-89 (174) and Connor Howard finished with rounds of 88-90 (178) to complete the UTA lineup scoring.
 
Tran led UTA with four birdies, while Murray was right behind her with three. All of Tran's birdies came on the back 9; she recorded a 37-36 on her two back 9s of the day compared with a 41-37 performance on the front 9s.
 
Scoring – as is typically the case at The Classic Club – was extremely difficult as the average 1st-round score was a 79.62 and the 2nd-score scoring average was an incredible 80.30. Every single player in the field is over par following the first 36 holes.
 
Every hole on the course played at least .2 strokes over par during the two rounds, with the exception of the par-3, 118-yard 18th in the 1st round.
 
Final-round action is scheduled for Sunday with a 9:30 a.m. shotgun start. Live scoring will be available via Golfstat by clicking here.
 
Following action in Palm Desert, the Mavs head to New Mexico State's Aggie Invitational for three rounds of action over three days, Oct. 7-9, in Las Cruces.
 
FOLLOW THE MAVS SOCIALLY
For up-to-date news, photos and videos of the UTA women's golf program, follow us on Twitter: @UTAMavsWGolf, Instagram: @UTAMavsWGolf and Facebook: /UTAMavsWGolf.