ARLINGTON – The UT Arlington women's golf team is in contention for its first-ever championship following day one of the UTA Invitational presented by Veritex Bank on Monday at Texas Rangers Golf Club.
 
The Mavericks reside in 3rd place following rounds of 295 and 299, respectively, and with a 594 total (+18) are only 12 shots back of tournament leader ULM (582, +6) entering Tuesday's final round on their home course. UTA's opening-round 295 is tied for the 4th-best in program history.
 
On the strength of a 2nd-round 1-under 71, Kate Tran led UTA on Monday as the Arlington native resides in a tie for 4th place overall at +2 following an opening-round 75 earlier in the day. Her 146 total is tied for the 7th-best 36-hole score in program history.
 
She is joined in the top 10 by teammate Romina Gonzalez, who in her Maverick debut posted consistent rounds of 74 and 73 and sits at +3 overall and tied for 7th. Competing as an individual, Janane Tan turned in a career-low 72 in the 1st round and backed it up with a 75 in the 2nd round to match Gonzalez's score.
 
As a team, UTA leads the six-team field in par-5 scoring through 36 holes at 4.98 – the only team under par (-1) on those holes. Tran and Kinsey Ray are tied for the field lead in par-5 scoring at 4.75 (-2), while Tran is tied for the lead in pars (28). Connor Howard and Gonzalez are tied for 3rd in the field in par-3 scoring (-1). Sydney Garber leads the Mavs and ranks 3rd in the field in total birdies with eight.
 
The Mavs are just seven strokes behind 2nd-place Houston Baptist (587, +11) entering Tuesday's final round. That 18 is scheduled to commence at 8 a.m. with another shotgun start, and UTA will begin play on the par-4 17th hole.
 
Spectators are welcomed and encouraged to attend UTA's first tournament at TRGC, which is located about 10 minutes north of campus at 701 Brown Blvd. Live scoring will also be available via Golfstat by clicking here or visiting the link at the top of this release.
 
Below is a full breakdown of UTA's five-player lineup (top-4 scores count), in addition to its three competing individuals.
 
T-4 – Kate Tran: +2 (75-71: 146)
Tran's 1st round featured a relatively uneventful scorecard with 15 pars, a birdie, a bogey and an unfortunately triple bogey on the 12th en route to signing for a 75.
 
Her 2nd round was nearly equally as clean with only two squares being overtaken by three circles en route to the first under-par round of the year for the Mavs. That 71 is tied for the 10th-best round in program history.
 
T-7 – Romina Gonzalez: +3 (74-73: 147)
In her first round with the Mavs, the St. Edward's transfer had her card at even par heading to 17, but unfortunately recorded bogeys on the final two holes to turn in the 74.
 
Her 2nd round included 13 pars – including all nine holes on the front – and she sat at -1 heading to 15 before a bogey there and on the closing par-5 18th resulted in the 1-over round.
 
11 – Sydney Garber: +6 (72-78: 150)
After making the turn in 3-over 39, Garber scorched the inward 9 in her 1st round by playing the final six holes in 3-under to come in with a 33 and record the level-par 72 to lead the Mavs in the opening 18. Garber birdied 13, 14, 17 and 18 with the only blemish coming on a bogey on 15.
 
Her adventurous 2nd round included an eight-hole stretch from 7-14 in which she either recorded a birdie or a bogey on every hole, and by the time the round had come to a close she signed for that 78 as she looks to better her current career-best finish of a tie for 9th on Tuesday.
 
T-18 – Madigan Murray: +9 (74-79: 153)
After going 13 holes without a birdie and sitting at +4, Murray birdied three of her last five holes to turn in the opening-round 74.
 
Her 2nd round was looking more promising as she sat at even par through 11 holes; however, she unfortunately closed the final seven holes in +7.
 
28 – Kinsey Ray: +18 (85-77: 162)
Ray struggled in her 1st round on the way to that 85 before rebounding with a better 77 in the 2nd round which featured three birdies on the inward 9.
 
T-7 – Janane Tan (Ind): +3 (72-75: 147)
Tan shattered her previous career-low of 75 with the 1st-round 72. She recorded nothing worse than a bogey in that first 18, and rolled in three birdies on 1, 6 and 16 to offset those.
 
In exact same form as her 1st round, Tan registered nothing higher than a bogey on her card in the 2nd round, rolled in a trio of birdies and finished the first two rounds at +3, which is tied for the 12th-best 36-hole score in program history.
 
T-12 – Connor Howard (Ind): +7 (77-74: 151)
Howard opened her day with a 77 despite rolling in 13 pars. She rebounded by matching her career-low round in the second 18 of the day with the 74. After playing the front 9 in 2-over 38, she was able to get home in even-par 36, offsetting a double bogey with a pair of birdies on the 10th and 18th.
 
30 – Abigail Adams (Ind): +21 (83-82: 165)
After missing the entire fall portion of the season last year with an injury, Adams completed her first round in the fall since her freshman campaign with the 83 before cutting one shot off that in the 2nd round with an 82.
   
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ABOUT TEXAS RANGERS GOLF CLUB
Opened in February of 2019, the state-of-the-art Texas Rangers Golf Club is the new home of UTA's men's and women's golf programs. The world's only Major League Baseball-branded golf course, TRGC is the result of a $24 million renovation and updated routing of the former Chester W. Ditto Golf Course.
 
The Home of UTA Golf was designed by UTA alumni John Colligan and Trey Kemp of Arlington-based Colligan Golf Design. It features an expansive 23-acre practice area, and a new 33,871-square-foot clubhouse – set to open later this fall – will feature a full-service restaurant and bar, covered patio overlooking the golf course, pro shop, locker rooms and numerous rental and event spaces. For more information about TRGC, click here.