Arkansas leads OU, Tulsa in Route 66 Invitational at Cedar Ridge
Above: Tulsa’s Jenni Roller tees off in the Route 66 Invitational. Photo by Bill Powell
BROKEN ARROW, Okla. – No. 8 Arkansas women’s golf is atop the leaderboard after 36 holes on Monday at the Route 66 Invitational honoring Dale McNamra at Cedar Ridge Country Club.
The Razorbacks are the only team under par and hold a 10-shot lead over second-place Oklahoma.
The Hogs are led by reigning NCAA individual champion Maria José Marin (-8, T1), who fired a pair of rounds in the 60s to start Arkansas’ third tournament of the fall.
Reagan Zibilski and Clarisa Temelo joined José Marin with under-par rounds after the first 18. Zibilski shot an even 71, including an eagle on the par-5 first hole, and Temelo 5-over par in the second set of 18 holes.
Abbey Schutte and Anna Kate Nichols bested their morning scores and each shot a 1-over 72 in the second round.
Freshman Swetha Sathish, playing as an individual, fired her first collegiate round in the 60s, a 69, but dropped 21 spots with a 7-0ver second round.
Oklahoma’s Savannah Barber shot 8-under to share the first round lead with Jose’ Marin and vault the Sooners into second place at even par. She shot rounds of 68-66. Gracie Mayo is in third place at 3-under while Reagan Chaney of Ardmore is tied for 21st at 4-over after a second round of 1-under 71.
Host Tulsa is in third place after a strong start and a shaky second round. Senior Jenni Roller led the field after round one at 4-under but slipped into a tie for 15th after shooting 78 in the second round. She is tied with teammate Zoe Sharmy at 3 over.
Tournament organizer and former TU great Maggie Roller, the director of instruction at Cedar Ridge, had arranged for a visit by Tulsa legend Nancy Lopez to watch and visit with the players. Lopez came down with an illness and instead participated in two zoom calls, one during a reception with tournament sponsors and a second with the players at their post-round dinner.
Lopez won 11 of 19 tournaments in her two seasons playing for the Golden Hurricane. She won six tournaments as a freshman including the AIAW National Championship. After turning professional she won five consecutive tournaments as a rookie on the LPGA Tour and went on to win 30 tournaments and was inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Oklahoma Golf Hall of Fame in 2016.
