SANTA ANA, Calif. – With three players scoring below par, Santa Clara women's golf carded a program-record 8-under 280 in Monday's second round to vault into a tie for second-place after 36 holes of the UC Irvine Invitational with a 1-under 575 total.
The Broncos fell to sixth-place after the opening round with a 295, but they stormed back over the second 18 holes behind three golfers who established personal-best scores. The 280 bests the previous low 18-hole team score of 286, which was established at the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic last April.
"They played really solid tee to green today," head coach Krystal Kelly said of her team. "They stayed focused and took advantage of it when the opportunity presented itself. I'm very proud of them."
Junior Marni Murez matched the program-low round and scored the first sub-70 of her Santa Clara career with a 5-under 67. She climbed into a tie for fifth-place at 4-under 140 with teammate Emily Sumner and one other golfer. Sumner followed up her first-round even-par 72 by establishing a personal-best for the second straight tournament with a second-round 4-under 68. The sophomore posted a 69 two weeks ago.
"Marni and Emily played so well today, it was fun to watch," Kelly added.
The Broncos got a boost from freshman Duong Tran who shot a career-low 1-under 71 in the second round. Tran rebounded from a first-round 82.
Freshman Claire Choi and sophomore Sarah Busey were consistent over the first 36 holes. Choi had identical rounds of 74 to grab a share of 28th at 4-over 148. Busey had rounds of 76 to tie for 46th at 8-over 152.
Despite their record-setting round, the Broncos will enter final round play at the 6,107-yard, par-72 Santa Ana Country Club tied with Cal Baptist and 13 shots behind leader Cal Poly. "Anything is possible, but we'll have to post something low to catch Cal Poly," Kelly said of her team's chances at a second straight team title.
A 7:45 a.m. PT tee time from holes one and 10 will get Tuesday's final-round started. Live scoring is available at Golfstat.com.
Santa Clara 2nd Round Individual Results
| T5. | Marni Murez | 73-67 = 140 (-4) |
| T5. | Emily Sumner | 72-68 = 140 (-4) |
| T28. | Claire Choi | 74-74 = 148 (+4) |
| T46. | Sarah Busey | 76-76 = 152 (+8) |
| T55. | Duong Tran | 82-71 = 153 (+9) |
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