McALLEN, TEXAS – On a day that featured strong winds and cool temperatures throughout, as the entire field had elevated scores due to the weather, and the Redbirds are tied for third with 18 holes to play at the 2022 UTRGV Invitational.
The Redbirds carded a two-round 625, tied with Houston Baptist for third place overall. Texas A&M Corpus Christi leads the 16-team field with a 620, while Lamar is second with a 623. Trailing behind ISU and HBU are Utah Valley (626), Creighton (627), UTRGV (628), Drake (628), Omaha (630), Incarnate Word (631), Stephen F. Austin (642), North Dakota (646), Tarleton State (646), Texas Southern (649), and Texas A&M Kingsville (698).
Maria Toledo Bailey was the ISU day-one lead with a two-round total of 154, tying her for 12th, while reigning MVC Golfer of the Week Avalon Woodward is tied for 17th with a two-round 156. Ali Schrock (160) and Kehler Koss (161) finished one stroke away from each other, placing in a tie for 29th and a tie for 38th, with Vinisha Gunaseelan shooting a two-round 164, tied for 49th. Playing as an individual, Kira Wolf shot a two-round 171, which is tied for 67th with 18 holes to play.
Toledo Bailey's opening round – a four-over 76 – saw her only two birdies of the day to go along with 10 pars, before carding 13 pars on her second 18 holes of the day to finish six shots over par with a 78 on the final round. Her 10-over first two rounds has her just five strokes off of the individual lead in the field.
Woodward had a balanced opening round with one birdie and a dozen pars before finishing with a four-over 76. Her second round had a rough start, as she was eight over par through the first eight holes, before she played even par over the final 10 holes, which included three birdies and five pars over the last 10.
Schrock's day started with a nine-over 81, a round that saw her card a birdie and 10 pars, before coming back with a seven-over 79 with three birdies and six pars in the extreme wind conditions.
Koss struggled with the wind in her opening round, finishing with an 85 over the first 18 holes before rebounding with a four-over 76, a score that saw her climb 21 spots into a tie for 38th, as she had a team-high four birdies in the second round, and was at one under par through 12 holes.
Gunaseelan had two birdies on her first 18 holes of the day, including one on her final hole of the first round as she closed her opening half of the day with a seven-over 79. She followed that with a birdie and five pars, carding an 85 over the final round of the day.
In her opening round of the day Wolf finished with an 87, before carding the team's only eagle on the day in the second round, finishing with the 84 on the last 18 holes.
The Redbirds tee back up – ideally in less windy conditions – tomorrow for the third and final round of the tournament.
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