UA women in second after carding 4 under

The No. 3 Arkansas Razorbacks women’s golf team fired a 4-under 284 and was in second place after the opening round of the NCAA Austin (Texas) Regional on Monday. No. 7 Texas, trailing by four shots midway through the round, had a hot back nine and finished at 7 under to lead the 18-team field at the University of Texas Golf Club.

No. 11 Michigan State was in third place at 3 under, followed by Virginia Tech and Baylor, which both shot even-par 288; BYU (+3); No. 14 Florida (+3); No. 19 Auburn (+4); Texas A&M (+7); and Texas-San Antonio (+9).

The low six teams after three rounds in Austin and at three other NCAA regional sites will make up the 24-team field for the NCAA championships in two weeks at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla.

Junior Maria Fassi paced the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville in the opening round with a 3-under 69 that included seven birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey 5 on the par-3 No. 12.

Fassi, the runner-up for medalist honors at the SEC championships two weeks ago, is tied with Texas’ Sophia Schubert and Houston’s Megan Thothong, one shot behind Texas A&M’s Maddie Szeryk.

Arkansas junior Dylan Kim was one stroke behind Fassi and tied for sixth at 2 under. Kim, a transfer from Baylor, had the most consistent day among the Razorbacks with three birdies and one bogey.

The other counting scores for the Razorbacks came from juniors Kaylee Benton (evenpar 72), who was tied for 23rd, and Cara Gorlei (+1), who is tied for 31st. Senior Alana Uriell carded a 6 over and was tied for 77th.