Day two of the UCF Challenge concluded for the Cyclone women’s golf team on Monday in Orlando, Florida. Though the team shot two strokes worse than they did in round one, the Cyclones climbed a couple spots up the leaderboard as currently sit in a tie for 8th place at +8.

Iowa State has started each round on holes ten through 18.

Whether it is because the holes are harder — there are three par fives compared to only one on the front nine — or the team is just slow to gain their rhythm, the Cyclones have underperformed compared to the other teams on the back half.

All seven teams ahead of Iowa State have sank at least four birdies on their back nine. The Cyclones only sank one as a team Monday.

If the team expects to move up a couple spots for the final round on Tuesday, they must avoid digging a hole for themselves and gain ground on the back nine. 

Unlike the back half of the course, hole one through eight has treated Iowa State much better. Much like the first round, the second round also saw each Cyclone golfer shoot at least two strokes better than their score on their first rack of nine.

Even better, while the team sank four birdies in the first round, the amount of birdies more than doubled Monday as count tallied to nine. With the nine birdies, the Cyclones tied for second with Kentucky, Wake Forest and Virginia for the amount of birdies made on the front nine. 

With apparent confidence on the first eight holes and as long as they can hold their own on the last eight, Iowa State has a chance to climb up the leaderboard on day three and start their spring season on the right foot. 

The final day of the UCF Challenge is Tuesday Feb. 3.