Texas Tech University Athletics
No. 23 Tech snaps 18-hole mark to secure first-day lead
March 18, 2022 | Women's Golf
Texas Tech fired a 17-under 271 round Friday for the lowest 18-hole score in program history
LUBBOCK, Texas – The school record for lowest 18-hole score by the Texas Tech women's golf team sure didn't last long. In fact, it didn't even make it a month.
The No. 23 Red Raiders, behind four players under par, including a 7-under 65 from Anna Dong, raced out to the opening day lead at the Mountain View Collegiate following a birdie-laced 17-under 271 round Friday. Texas Tech will enter Saturday's second round with a six-stroke lead over No. 7 San Jose State when play resumes at the Mountain View Golf Club in Tucson, Arizona.
The strong start was propelled by 25 birdies by the Red Raider lineup, allowing Texas Tech to break its previous record for lowest 18-hole card in the process. That mark was set only Feb. 22 when the Red Raiders sank 20 birdies en route to a 16-under 272 to finish as the runner-up at the ICON Invitational hosted in Houston.
Similar to their performance in Houston, the Red Raiders capitalized on a balanced lineup that was powered by Dong, who drained eight birdies on the day, including five over her first six holes. She punctuated the career-low round with a birdie on her final hole, the par-5 9th, en route to signing for only the fourth score at 65 or better in school history.
Dong joins a prestigious club for the lowest rounds all-time at Texas Tech as Sofia Garcia previously recorded a pair of 64 cards, while Kim Kaufman had a 65 of her own during her respective career. Both Garcia and Kaufman have gone on to professional success either on the LPGA Tour or the Epson Tour (previously known as the Symetra Tour).
Dong, who controls a two-stroke lead on the individual leaderboard, wasn't alone with red spread across the scorecard as Amy Taylor had six birdies of her own as part of a 4-under 68 round, one stroke better than both Gala Dumez and Libby Fleming. All four of Texas Tech's counting scores placed the four Red Raiders all within the top-15 individuals.
Chiara Horder chipped in a 2-over card to round out the Texas Tech lineup, pushing the freshman into a tie for 45th overall. Fellow freshman Kylee Loewe, playing as an individual this week, is in a tie for 28th following an even-par round.
On the team leaderboard, only six schools finished under par over the first 18 holes as No. 2 Oklahoma State and No. 29 Texas A&M are tied for third at 7-under followed by UNLV at 5-under in fifth and No. 12 Arkansas at 2-under in sixth.
The Red Raiders will be paired with San Jose State and Oklahoma State on Saturday morning when the second round tees off at 11:30 a.m. CT. Live scoring will be provided throughout the round at BirdieFire.com.
So about that 18-hole school record we set only a few weeks ago...
— Texas Tech Women's Golf (@TexasTechWGolf) March 18, 2022
We already broke it. ??????
?? @dong_linyu -7 65
?? @_AmyTaylorr -4 68
?? Gala Dumez -3 69
?? Libby Fleming -3 69
?? Chiara Horder +2 74
?? ???????? -???? ?????? #WreckEm | #WinBig pic.twitter.com/noHUeL1Tl1
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