No. 19 Women's Golf holds 13-stroke lead after 36 holes at Betsy Rawls Invitational

Monday, October 9

Austin, Texas / UT Golf Club

University of Texas

Betsy Rawls Invitational

No. 19 Women's Golf holds 13-stroke lead after 36 holes at Betsy Rawls Invitational

10.09.2017 | Women's Golf

The Longhorns recorded an eight-under-par two-round total of 568 (286-282).

Round 2 Results (PDF) | Round 3 Pairings (PDF) | Betsy Rawls Invitational Central

AUSTIN, Texas– The No. 19 University of Texas women's golf team combined for an impressive opening 36 holes Monday at the 44th-annual Betsy Rawls Invitational to hold a commanding 13-stroke lead with an eight-under-par two-round total of 568 (286-282) at the University of Texas Golf Club.

Sophomore Emilee Hoffman and senior Sophia Schubert sit in second and third place, respectively, following the tournament's first two rounds. The duo, along with sophomore Maren Cipolla, who is competing as an individual, are the three Texas golfers who all fired a sub-70 round on Monday. All five of the Texas golfers in the team lineup finished the opening 36 holes among the top-25 on the individual leaderboard. Eight of the team's 16 rounds were at par or better.

The Longhorns recorded 36 birdies on the day, which were the most of any team in the tournament field. Texas also had 113 pars on the day, which was fourth-most among competing teams. The Longhorns were the best among the 15-team field on par-four holes with an average score of 4.02.

Texas' 282 in the second round was the best 18-hole team score by any team in the field on Monday and ties for the fifth-best 18-hole team round in the 44-year history of the Betsy Rawls Invitational.

The Longhorns enter the final round of the Betsy Rawls Invitational looking to claim the event for the first time since 2011 and for the eighth time in program history. The third round gets underway at 8:30 a.m. CT Tuesday with a shotgun start. Live results will be available on GolfStat here: http://results.golfstat.com//public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=14184.

The team's lead is especially impressive given the decorated tournament field, which includes six foes among the top-25 teams nationally, according to the Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings. No. 3 Arizona State is in second place overall at five-over-par 581 (294-287), while No. 25 Clemson is third at eight-over-par 584 (296-288).

Hoffman currently stands in second place with a six-under-par two-round total of 138 (71-67). Entering the final 18 holes, she is one stroke behind the current individual leader Alice Hewson of Clemson, who is at seven-under-par 137 (70-67). Hoffman recorded nine birdies on the day and had the best average of all tournament competitors on par-four holes Monday with an average score of 3.75 on those holes. Hoffman is on pace to continue her streak of top-25 finishes, for which she is currently 3-for-3 this season.

Hoffman and Clemson's Hewson each carded scores of 67 in the second round, which was the best individual 18-hole total on Monday. Those tie for the third-best 18-hole individual score in Betsy Rawls Invitational history.

Schubert is in third place with a five-under-par total of 139 (69-70). Her first-round 69 was the best among all competitors over those 18 holes. It marked the 20th sub-70 round of her collegiate career. Schubert finished with 27 pars on the day, which were the second-most among all competitors in the tournament field.

Hoffman seeks her second career tournament win after claiming the individual title at the Lady Paladin Invitational last fall, while Schubert is seeking her third career tournament win and second while at Texas.

Sophomore Greta Isabella Voelker recorded an even-par 144 (72-72) and currently is in a tie for 11th place overall. Freshmen Agathe Laisne and Kaitlyn Papp are each in a tie for 25th place with three-over-par 147s (74-73).

Competing as an individual, Cipolla fired a second-round 69 and currently is in a tie for 14th place overall with a one-over-par 145 (76-69). Junior Maddie Luitwieler is in a tie for 25th place with a three-over-par 147 (72-75), while sophomore Kelly Xac, competing in her first collegiate tournament, totaled a 17-over-par 161 (82-79).

TEXAS QUOTES

Texas Head Coach Ryan Murphy

On Texas holding a 13-stroke lead following the opening 36 holes of the Betsy Rawls Invitational …
"I'm happy with where we are. Those rounds in the 60s are big for us. Emilee Hoffman played great in both rounds, specifically in round two with a 67, and Sophia is in at five-under-par for the tournament, so they're doing a good job of leading us right now."

On what he will tell his team entering the final round with a sizeable advantage over the tournament field …
"We will try to expand on it. You can't rest on your lead at all. This is a really good field and all of the teams behind us are great teams. We're going to go out and try to keep doing what we're doing to expand that lead."

Sophomore Emilee Hoffman

On her six-under-par showing through the first 36 holes of the Betsy Rawls Invitational …
"I played really solid today. When we play 36 holes, it's obviously a really long day, so my goal for today was to stay mentally focused. I wanted to try as hard as I could on every shot and just see what happened."

On what aspect of her game she was most pleased with on Monday …
"I putted pretty well today. I still left a few out there, but hopefully tomorrow they'll go in and everything will work out."

On the team's goals for Tuesday's final 18 holes …
"It would be great to get the team win tomorrow on our home course in front of our family and friends."

Senior Sophia Schubert

On completing her opening two rounds at five-under-par …
"I felt pretty good during both rounds and just solid all around. I was hitting fairways, hitting greens and making a couple putts. There towards the end – my last nine holes - I had a three-putt on 11 and, after that, I just couldn't get any birdie putts, but it was a good round."

On what she will work on in preparation for Tuesday's final round …
"I need to work on my putting. I was hitting it pretty close, I just couldn't make the birdie putts. I'm going to work on my speed and accuracy tomorrow morning."

Sophomore Maren Cipolla

On her second-round 69 (-3) …
"It was the second 18, so I had a good idea of where I wanted to place my shots, but the main thing was I've really been working on my putting. It has been my struggle the past couple of tournaments and when I had a normal amount of putts, it turned out to be a good round."

TEAM LEADERBOARD

Place	School	Round 1	Round 2	Total	To Par
1	Texas	286	282	568	-8
2	Arizona State	294	287	581	+5
3	Clemson	296	288	584	+8
4	Miami	293	293	586	+10
T5	UNLV	303	287	590	+14
T5	Houston	292	298	590	+14
7	Kent State	296	295	591	+15
T8	Furman	299	293	592	+16
T8	Texas State	297	295	592	+16
10	San Diego State	303	290	593	+17
11	Texas Tech	301	294	595	+19
12	Oklahoma	299	297	596	+20
13	Baylor	296	301	597	+21
T14	SMU	305	296	601	+25
T14	LSU	303	298	601	+25

INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD

Place	Golfer [School]	Round 1	Round 2	Total	To Par
1	Alice Hewson [Clemson]	70	67	137	-7
2	Emilee Hoffman [Texas]	71	67	138	-6
3	Sophia Schubert [Texas]	69	70	139	-5
4	Sarah White [Texas State]	73	68	141	-3
5	Linnea Strom [Arizona State]	71	71	142	-2
T6	Anne-Charlotte Mora [Texas State]	71	72	143	-1
T6	Renate Grimstad [Miami]	74	69	143	-1
T6	Michaela Finn [Kent State]	73	70	143	-1
T6	Haylee Harford [Furman]	73	70	143	-1
T6	Sophia Zeeb [Arizona State]	70	73	143	-1

TEXAS INDIVIDUALS

Place	Golfer	Round 1	Round 2	Total	To Par
2	Emilee Hoffman	71	67	138	-6
3	Sophia Schubert	69	70	139	-5
T11	Greta Isabella Voelker	72	72	144	E
T14	Maren Cipolla *	76	69	145	+1
T25	Kaitlin Papp	74	73	147	+3
T25	Agathe Laisne	74	73	147	+3
T25	Maddie Luitwieler *	72	75	147	+3
T77	Kelly Xac *	82	79	161	+17