Dec. 3, 2004
Fall Recap in PDF Format
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LOBOS WRAP UP ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL FALL SEASON – The New Mexico women’s golf team wrapped up another successful fall season after winning the Landfall Tradition for the second straight year and by placing in the top 10 in all five of its tournaments. The Lobos close out the fall ranked eighth in the Golf World College Coaches Poll released in December and 12th in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings released Nov. 30. The Lobos begin the spring season Feb. 7-9 with the Regional Challenge in Palos Verdes, Calif.
In their last tournament of the fall season, the Lobos placed ninth at the prestigious Collegiate Match Play Championship played in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla. UNM defeated UNLV, 4-1, on the last day of the tournament to claim the consolation bracket title. After falling in the first round to Florida, the seventh-seeded Lobos rattled off three straight victories in taking ninth place. The Lobos were one of only five teams in the tournament to win at least three matches.
The annual Collegiate Match Play Championship features 16 seeded teams in a double-elimination bracket while playing in a match-play format. The Lobos defeated 15th-seeded North Carolina and sixth-seeded Tennessee on the second day of the tournament.
Before the Match Play Championship, the Lobos won their second straight Landfall Tradition title Oct. 29-31 in Wilmington, N.C. New Mexico also placed in the top 10 in its first three tournaments, taking second at the Dick McGuire Invitational, seventh at the Stanford Intercollegiate and eighth at the NCAA Fall Preview. Individually, the Lobos have four starters ranked in the top 120 according to Golfweek. Senior Kailin Downs heads the pack at No. 12, while junior Christine Fernandez is in the top 50 at No. 41. Senior Christina Spence is ranked 100th and sophomore Ashley Rollins is at 119th.
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Downs, who set the UNM junior scoring-average mark last season with a 73.91 average, is looking to topple Katrina Leckovic’s career scoring average of 75.34 in her last season. After three years and four tournaments, Downs’ average is at 74.02. The preseason All-American was named the Mountain West Golfer of the Month in September and October, marking the sixth and seventh times in her career she has won the award. She leads the Mountain West with a 71.92 scoring average.
Fernandez, the Lobos’ top finisher at the 2004 NCAA Championships, is having a stellar junior season, as she is second on team with a 73.33 average, which is good for second in the Mountain West. Senior Christina Spence, a 2003 All-Mountain West honoree, is at a 74.44 average in three tournaments this season, third best in the MWC. Ashley Rollins, the 2004 Mountain West Freshman of the Year, is fourth in the conference with a 74.58 average. Redshirt freshman Giselle Claux (76.89 avg.) has started three tournaments and and freshman Alexandra Phelps (80.11 avg.) has started twice for UNM this fall.
THE CLASS OF THE MOUNTAIN WEST – The Lobos are clearly the class of the Mountain West Conference when it comes to women’s golf. UNM has won four of the five MWC Championships and is currently the highest ranked team in the league at No. 8 in the nation. The Lobos own the top-four scoring averages in the MWC and Kailin Downs has already been named the MWC Golfer of the Month twice this season. Downs leads the league with a 71.92 average, while Christine Fernandez is second at 73.33, Christina Spence is third at 74.44, and Ashley Rollins is fourth at 74.58.
BY THE NUMBERS –
— New Mexico has made 12 appearances at the NCAA Championships (1982, `83, `84, `85, `87, `88, `93, `95, `96, `98, 2001, 2004)
— The Lobos have been ranked in the top 15 since Sept. 29, 2003 (61 straight weeks)
— New Mexico has made 12 straight postseason appearances
— UNM has claimed 13 conference championships
— The Lobos have won 38 tournament titles in their history
— The Lobos have won 11 tournament titles in the last four years
— The Lobos currently have the 6th toughest schedule in the nation
— The Lobos have the top 4 players in scoring average in the Mountain West
PLAYER NOTES –
DOWNS NAMED MOUNTAIN WEST GOLFER OF THE MONTH FOR OCTOBER – Senior Kailin Downs was named the Mountain West Golfer of the Month for October, marking the second time she has won the award this season and seventh in her career. She also garnered the award in September. Downs’ key performance to earn the award came at the Landfall Tradition, where she placed second with a career-best score of 211. She also took third at the Dick McGuire Invitational. Overall, she has placed in the top five on 14 occasions during her career.
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The Bend, Ore., product leads the team and the Mountain West with a 71.92 scoring average. She is ranked 12th in the country by Golfweek.
Downs, who was named a Golfweek second-team preseason All-American for the second consecutive year, has established herself as one of the nation’s premier collegiate golfers and solidified her national standing with an excellent summer of golf. She advanced to the round of 32 in match play at the 2004 U.S. Women’s Amateur and won two of her three matches in helping lead Team USA past Japan in the 2004 Fuji Xerox U.S. vs. Japan Collegiate Golf Championships held July 16-18 in Ichihara, Japan.
Downs earned honorable mention All-America honors for the second straight season in 2003-04 after setting a new UNM junior record with a 73.91 scoring average. She also owns the sophomore record (74.1). Downs was the 2004 recipient of the Edith Cummings Munson Award, which is presented by the NGCA to an individual based on academic and athletic achievement. She boasted a 3.82 GPA in General Management to earn NGCA Scholar-Athlete honors for the third straight season and also earned a spot on the CoSIDA Academic All-America third team.
Last season, Downs was named the MWC Women’s Golfer of the Month in September after winning her first career tournament at the 2003 Dick McGuire Invitational and Co-MWC Golfer of the Month in February after placing fourth at the Northrup Grumman Regional Challenge. Downs was the only player in the conference to earn Golfer of the Month honors twice in 2002-03 (September and April). As a freshman, Downs garnered Golfer of the Month honors in October of 2001.
ASHLEY’S ROLLIN’ – Sophomore Ashley Rollins, who made a splash onto the collegiate golf scene her freshman season, was named a third-team preseason All-American by Golfweek. Rollins lived up to the hype in her first season as a Lobo, establishing a new freshman record at UNM with a 74.62 scoring average and finishing the season ranked No. 52. For her efforts, she was named the Mountain West Freshman of the Year and also earned All-MWC honors.
One of the top recruits in Coach Booth’s tenure, Rollins made the cut at the 2003 U.S. Women’s Amateur and won all four of her matches at the AJGA Canor Cup prior to attending UNM.
In her first action of the 2004-05 season, Rollins tied for 14th at the Dick McGuire Invitational with a 3-over 222. Rollins’ scoring average in the fall is 74.58, good for fourth in the Mountain West. She is ranked 119th by Golfweek and 137th by Golf Stat.
FERNANDEZ LOOKING FOR EVEN MORE – Junior Christine Fernandez was a welcome addition to the 2003-04 Lobo squad after transferring from the University of Tulsa. After starting in all but one tournament last season, Fernandez has stepped up even more in her second year, and is now one of the elite players in the nation. She is ranked 41st by Golfweek and 57th by Golf Stat with a 73.33 average in the fall, which is also good for second best in the MWC.
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Fernandez tied for 17th at the Dick McGuire Invitational in her first action of the 2004-05 season, but she really stepped into the national spotlight with a great showing at the NCAA Fall Preview. In a tournament that featured 16 ranked teams, Fernandez shot a 1-over 214 to tie for fifth, which was her best 54-hole total as a Lobo. She led the Lobos with a 217 at the Stanford Intercollegiate, marking her third top-20 finish of the season.
Fernandez finished in the top 10 in three tournaments last season, including a career-best tie for second at the Dr. Thompson Invitational in Hawai’i, where she shot a season-low round of 68 in the second round. She also placed in the top 10 at the Las Vegas Founders Women’s Collegiate Showdown and shot a season-low 219 to tie for ninth at the Mountain West Championships. The Las Vegas, Nev., native was the Lobos’ top finisher at the 2004 NCAA Championships, carding a 7-over 295 to tie for 33rd.
SPENCE BACK IN LINEUP – Senior Christina Spence, who garnered All-MWC accolades in 2002-03, is back into the starting lineup this season and is making the most of her senior season. Spence is third in the conference with a 74.44 scoring average in three tournament appearances. She has placed in the top 20 twice this season, including season-best 19th after shooting a 6-over 222 at the Landfall Tradition. She is ranked 99th by Golfweek and 106th by Golf Stat.
NEW ADDITION – Redshirt freshman Giselle Claux, a native of Lima, Peru, joined the Lobos for the 2004 spring season after sitting out fall competition. A talented golfer with international experience, Claux competed for the Peruvian National Team in several Junior South American tournaments. She placed fourth at the 2003 Junior South American tournament in Montevideo, Uruguay.
Claux has started in three tournament thus far in 2004-05 for UNM. In her first collegiate tournament, she tied for 78th at the Dick McGuire Invitational. She dramatically improved in her second tournament, tying for 31st at the Stanford Intercollegiate.
Claux really came alive at the Collegiate Match Play Championships, winning all four of her matches in the No. 5 position against Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee and UNLV.
NEW ADDITION, Pt. 2 – Freshman Alexandra Phelps, a native of Albuquerque, is ready to contribute to her hometown Lobos. Phelps won the 2004 Class 5A state golf championship and also won the 2004 Albuquerque Women’s City Championship. She earned the Albuquerque Tribune Lighthouse Award/Athlete of the Year for girl’s golf in 2004. She played as an individual in the Dick McGuire Invitational and started in the NCAA Fall Preview and Stanford Intercollegiate.
LAST TIME OUT –
LOBOS WIN CONSOLATION TITLE AT COLLEGIATE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP (Nov. 14-16) – The 12th-ranked New Mexico women’s golf team defeated UNLV, 4-1, to claim the consolation bracket title at the Hooters Collegiate Match Play Championship in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla. After falling in the first round to Florida, the seventh-seeded Lobos rattled off three straight victories in taking ninth place. The Lobos were one of only five teams in the tournament to win at least three matches. The Collegiate Match Play Championship features 16 seeded teams in a double-elimination bracket while playing in a match-play format.
UNM cruised past conference rival and 16th-seeded UNLV, winning four of the five matches. Kailin Downs did not lose a single hole in defeating Elena Kurokawa, 5 and 4, in the No. 1 player slot. Christina Spence topped Hwanhee Lee, 3 and 2, and Christine Fernandez took care of Allison Chell, 5 and 3. Giselle Claux finished off a perfect tournament by topping Young Pak, 3 and 1. Claux went 4-0 in her matches during the tournament. In UNLV’s only win, Seema Sadekar bested Ashley Rollins, 4 and 2.
The Lobos defeated 15th-seeded North Carolina and sixth-seeded Tennessee on the second day of action.