March 26, 2010
Texas A&M junior Sarah Zwartynski (pronounced zwort-IN-ski) took the opening round lead at the 37th annual Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational after firing a two-under 70 on Friday at the University of Texas Golf Club.
With the No. 93-ranked Zwartynski leading the way, the No. 25 Texas A&M women's golf team stands in a tie for fourth place after carding an opening round 11-over 299. The Aggies are four shots off the pace set by top-ranked UCLA, who carded seven-over 295. The top 10 after the opening round are UCLA, No. 35 Texas (+8), No. 22 TCU (+10), Texas A&M, No. 30 Oregon (+11), No. 17 Vanderbilt (+12), No. 7 Arizona (+11), No. 41 Northwestern (+13), No. 10 Stanford (+14) and No. 42 Notre Dame (+15).
“The girls played pretty solid all day,” Aggie head coach Trelle McCombs said. “We had to fight for every shot. I am very proud of the way they competed. This opening round sets them up for a good weekend.”
Zwartynski, from Allen, Texas, carded 12 pars on the day, and offset two bogeys with four birdies to grab the first round lead along with Shannon Fish of Texas. Zwartynski and Fish are trailed by fifth-ranked Stephanie Kono of UCLA and Kristina Wong of Stanford, who were both one-under for the day.
“Sarah loves this course.” McCombs said. “She has had some awesome rounds here. If she gets her putter going, with as well as she is hitting it right now, it could be something special for her at this tournament.”
Senior Julia Boland is tied for 13th at two-over; senior Ashley Freeman (+4) is tied for 33rd; freshman Sara Beth Davis (+() is tied for 74th.