Jack Myer
The Texas women’s golf team returned to form at the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational this weekend placing second, but bringing the Longhorns’ three-year win streak at the UT Golf Club to an end. Baylor took home the gold, shooting 22-under par for the weekend.
“I think we had a great bounce back after the first round,” senior Kaitlyn Papp said. “I'm proud of everyone for slowly clawing their way back. And honestly, Baylor played lights-out this week.”
The Longhorns were tied for fourth after the first round of the invitational, but jumped to second overall behind Papp’s 4-under-par finish in round two.
“(Papp’s) always been solid since day one,” head coach Ryan Murphy said. “It doesn't surprise me. She gets about 98% of everything out of her rounds and that’s just what she does. I was a little worried because she hasn't played since the ANA Inspiration … she has a potential U.S. Open invitation and this tournament’s really big for that.”
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The Longhorns’ second round will go down in Betsy Rawls history, as the squad shot 279 and tied for the tournament’s fifth-best 18-hole team total.
“I liked that bounce back for sure,” Murphy said. “That was a great second round that we played, obviously led by (Papp’s) 67. Whenever you have four scorers under par in a round, you’ve played pretty well. I was proud of them for that and proud of the bounce back. They’ve put us in position with one round to play.”
Papp ended the tournament tied fourth individually, shooting 8-under-par. Sophomore Sophie Guo also stood out for the Longhorns, tying for 16th and shooting even par.
“(East Lake Cup is) one tournament that I’ve always looked forward to having the opportunity to play and I’m so happy that we’re in the field this year,” Papp said.
Similar to the Schooner Fall Classic two weeks ago, Baylor led the end of each round and captured the event behind multiple impressive individual performances. The Longhorns were unable to close the 4-stroke deficit heading into the final round.
Texas’ next event will be the East Lake Cup beginning Oct. 26 in Atlanta, Georgia.