Antonia Malate leads a trio of San José State women’s golfers who shot par or better Monday to catapult the Spartans to a two-shot lead after two rounds of the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational at the UNM Championship Course.
Malate is third individually at six-under 138. She shot a three-under 69 in each round, making seven birdies in the first round and four in the second, tying for the tournament lead in birdies made at 11.
Newcomer Lucia Lopez Ortega made an instant impact on the team as she finished the first day of the tournament tied for 13th at one-under 143. Her first collegiate round, she shot a 75 but improved seven shots in the second round with her four-under 68.
Kajsa Arwefjäll is tied for 15th at even-par 144. She also shot a four-under 68 in the second round after starting the day with a 76.
Natasha Andrea Oon returned to the Spartan lineup after missing last season and shot a two-over 146 on the day (74-72) to tie for 23rd. Jordyn Parr rounded out the lineup as she is tied for 40th at five-over 149.
San José State used an 11-under par, 277, second round score to jump six teams into first place to end the day. The 277 for the second round is the second-lowest score in school history, just two shots off the record of 275 shot in back-to-back rounds of the 2015 Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown.
Final round action of the tournament begins with a shotgun start Tuesday at 7:30 a.m. MT/6:30 a.m. PT. Fans can follow live scoring at http://results.golfstat.com//public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=team&tid=23693