KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – On a difficult scoring day for the entire field, the UT Arlington women's golf team was able to battle through and get itself into the championship flight of the Kiawah Island Classic following a 2nd-round 307 on Monday at Cougar Point Golf Course.
 
Facing the largest field of any collegiate tournament in the country, UTA resides in a tie for 19th place out of 41 teams with a 36-hole 613 (+37). The Mavericks are only 12 shots out of the top 10 entering Tuesday's final round.
 
The tournament is being contested at both Cougar Point and Oak Point Golf Course as part of the famed Kiawah Island Resort, and UTA – due to its top-19 position after two rounds – will play in the championship flight of the event at Cougar Point on Tuesday. The remaining bottom-20 teams are in the flight championship at Oak Point.
 
Kate Tran – who finished T-3 in this event last year – led UTA on day two with a 3-over 75 as all five Mavs for the second-straight round signed for scores in the 70s.
 
That's not to be glossed over because the average score at Cougar Point on Monday was 80.04 compared with Oak Point's 76.18. Conversely, during Sunday's 1st round the scoring average at Cougar Point was 77.30, while Oak Point was 79.82.
 
That means the Mavs, who played Oak Point to start the tournament, have gotten the worst of the draw. That's no more evident than the fact that the top-8 teams on the leaderboard after round 1 played Cougar Point, and after round 2 the top-12 teams in the standings played Oak Point.
 
Of teams which received the Oak Point-Cougar Point draw the first two days, UTA has posted the 4th-best score – just three shots shy of being the 2nd-best in the field.
 
UTA STANDINGS/SCORES
T-56) Kate Tran: 77-75 (152, +8)
T-56) Janane Tan: 74-78 (152, +8)
T-89) Madigan Murray: 79-76 (155, +11)
T-89) Sydney Garber: 76-79 (155, +11)
T-109) Romina Gonzalez: 79-78 (157, +13)
 
INSIDE THE SCORES

• Tran recorded two birdies in her opening six holes, went out in even-par 36 but came in with a 39 to record the 75.
   
• Tan was just +3 on her day heading to 18, but unfortunately made a triple bogey on her final hole. She birdied the par-5 9th, helping improve her par-5 scoring average for the first two rounds to 4.67 (-3) – tied for the 9th-best in the field of 210 players.
   
• Murray made nothing but pars or bogeys on 17 holes, with the lone birdie coming on the par-4 17th. The senior boasts a 4.11 scoring average (+2) on the par-4 holes through the first two days, which is tied for the 11th-best in the field.
   
• Garber and Gonzalez both made nothing worse than a bogey on their rounds, but neither could record any sub-par holes on the day.

THIS AND THAT

• UTA – which had five double bogeys or worse in the 1st round – only had one such score in the 2nd round.
   
• The Mavs managed just four birdies in the round.
   
• Dallas Baptist (569, -7) leads the field by 18 shots over 2nd-place Northern Illinois (587, +11).

FINAL-ROUND TEE TIMES
6:20 AM: Romina Gonzalez
6:28 AM: Sydney Garber
6:36 AM: Madigan Murray
6:44 AM: Janane Tan
6:52 AM: Kate Tran
Cougar Point Course No. 1 Hole; All Times Central
 
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.
 
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 this spring – 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.