Oct. 13, 2005
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The 15th-ranked New Mexico women’s golf team travels to Las Cruces early next week to compete in Price’s “Give “Em Five” New Mexico State Intercollegiate. The 21-team field will play at the New Mexico State University Golf Course. The first two rounds will be played on Monday followed by the final 18 holes on Tuesday. Live stats will not be available.
UNM AT THE NMSU INTERCOLLEGIATE: The Lobos are playing at the NMSU Intercollegiate for the first time in three years. UNM took 3rd out of 20 teams in 2002. New Mexico won the tournament on two previous occasions, 1984 and 1986. UNM head women’s coach Jackie Booth was New Mexico State’s head women’s coach from 1992-97.
THE FIELD: Arizona JV, Arkansas-Little Rock, No. 21 Baylor, Boise State, Cal-Davis, Colorado, Colorado State, Denver, Fresno State, Hawaii, Idaho, Long Beach State, Missouri, Nevada, No. 15 New Mexico, New Mexico State, Oklahoma, Portland State, San Francisco, Texas Tech, UTEP. The Lobos are the highest-ranked team in the 21-team field.
LOBO LINEUP: UNM will take an all-underclassmen lineup of junior Ashley Rollins, sophomores Giselle Claux and Alexandra Phelps and freshmen Mikaela Backstedt and Py Bengtsson.
MCGUIRE RECAP: Eileen Vargas shot a 5-under 68 to lead 3rd-ranked Pepperdine to the championship of the 27th Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational last month. The Waves finished at 3-under 873, edging unranked Texas A&M by two shots. Host New Mexico finished third at 6-over 882 followed by UNLV (883) and Ohio State (886).
Vargas, a junior from Ibaque, Colombia, won her first collegiate tournament at 8-under 211 thanks to a torrid 30 (6-under) on the back nine. Vargas birdied four of the first five holes coming home then drained a 10-foot putt for eagle on the 18th to beat Pepperdine teammate Carolina Llano and Texas A&M’s Ashley Knoll by two shots.
Vargas’ 68 tied a final round McGuire record held by four others: Arizona’s Martina Koch in 1986, Arizona’s Leta Lindley and Arizona State’s Wendy Ward in 1994, and New Mexico’s Ryley Webb in 1999.
New Mexico freshman Mikaela Backstedt finished fourth at 4-under 215 followed by UNLV’s Elena Kurokawa at 3-under 216. The Lobos carded a 2-over 294 in the final round and were within one shot of the lead before losing a few strokes down the stretch.
UNM sophomore Alexandra Phelps and junior Ashley Rollins tied for 21st at 3-over 222, followed by senior Christine Fernandez (8-over 227, T38th) and sophomore Giselle Claux (10-over 229, T45th). Freshman Py Bengtsson, playing as an individual for the Lobos, tied for 10th at 1-under 218.
ACE IN THE HOLE: Lobo freshman Py Bengtsson, playing as an individual in last month’s McGuire Invitational, recorded her first career hole-in-one. It came in the first round when she shot a 3-under 70. Bengtsson used a 9-iron to ace the uphill 123-yard 12th hole. At Colorado State, Bengtsson fired a 69 in her second collegiate round, tying Ashley Rollins for low score of the season.
BACKSTEDT NAMED MWC GOLFER OF THE MONTH: New Mexico freshman Mikaela Backstedt was been named the Mountain West Conference Women’s Golfer of the Month for September. The Hollviken, Sweden, native began her collegiate career with back-to-back top-10 finishes to open the 2005-06 season.
Backstedt began the season with a 10th-place showing at the Ptarmigan/Ram Fall Classic. She carded a 2-over 218 (71-73-74) and helped the Lobos to a second-place finish in the 18-team field.
In her second collegiate tournament, Backstedt finished fourth after shooting a 4-under 215 (70-72-73). The field for the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational featured seven nationally ranked teams and 18 overall as New Mexico finished third behind Pepperdine and Texas A&M.
NATIONAL RANKINGS: Backstedt is currently ranked 41st in the nation in scoring average at 72.10 per round. She has been a model of consistency, shooting between 70 and 74 in her first six collegiate rounds. The Lobo freshman scoring record is 74.62 by Backstedt’s teammate, Ashley Rollins, in 2003-04.
PLAYER NOTES: Junior Ashley Rollins shot a UNM Championship Course record 8-under-par 65 during a qualifying round for the season-opening tournament at Colorado State. Rollins, who shot a 69 in the final round at Colorado State, is a two-time all-conference performer and was the 2004 Mountain West Freshman of the Year.
Sophomore Giselle Claux has had her best career finishes – in relation to par – the first two tournaments of the season. Claux finished 11-over at Colorado State, then 10-over at the McGuire.
Sophomore Alexandra Phelps shot a career-low 71 (2-under) in the second round of the McGuire. Phelps finished at 3-over 222, her low score for 54 holes.
ADDING TO THE CASE?: The Lobos are gunning for their 13th team title since 2001.
FROM COACH Jackie Booth: “We’re looking forward to improving on our first two tournaments. I think we’re playing pretty well right now, especially with several young players. That’s exciting.”
SPENCE NAMED NCAA WOMAN OF THE YEAR: Former UNM women’s golfer Christina Spence was named the state of New Mexico recipient for the NCAA’s annual Woman of the Year. Spence, a native of Port Alberni, B.C., Canada, and a four-year letterwinner from 2002-05, is currently in her first year of Law School at the University of Victoria.
Now in its 15th year, the NCAA Woman of the Year recognizes outstanding female student-athletes who have excelled in academics, athletics and community leadership. Chosen by a committee of representatives from member institutions, 29 of the 2005 state honorees are from Division I, while 16 represent Division II and six are from Division III. They represent 15 sports.
The 2005 NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced during the annual awards dinner October 29 in Indianapolis. ESPN personality Danielle Sargent and Kara Lawson, former University of Tennessee women’s basketball standout and a 2003 Woman of the Year top-10 finalist currently playing in the WNBA, will serve as emcees for the evening.
This year’s state winners were chosen from a pool of 352 nominations, 76 more than in 2004 and the most since 2000, when there also were 352 candidates for the honor.
NCAAs AT UNM IN 2008: The NCAA announced last fall that the 2008 Division I Women’s Golf Championships will be played at The Championship Course. The event, scheduled for May 20-23, 2008, marks the fifth time that the NCAA Championships will be held in Albuquerque.
The UNM Championship Course, which was recently named one of the top 10 collegiate courses in the nation by Golfweek magazine, is no stranger to major tournaments. It was the site of the 1976, 1992 and 1998 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships as well as the 1991, 1995 and 2002 NCAA West Regionals. In 1987, the course hosted the NCAA Women’s Championships, and was also the site of the 1994 NCAA Women’s West Regional. The home course advantage helped the Lobos in 1987, as Caroline Keggi claimed UNM’s only individual national title in golf.
“This is really exciting for our program,” said New Mexico women’s golf coach Jackie Booth. “This will definitely help in recruiting our future classes, knowing that they will be able to play the site of the NCAA Championships every day.”
Booth has experience coaching and hosting the NCAA Championships. When she was the head coach at New Mexico State, the Aggies hosted the 1988 NCAA Championships in Las Cruces.
“It was a great experience at New Mexico State – they really rolled out the red carpet for the event, and I’m expecting the university and the city will do everything they can in making this a first-class event for all the participants from across the country,” Booth said. “It will be a lot of fun to have the biggest tournament of the season right in our back yard.
“It’s an honor for our course to be considered an NCAA site,” said Booth. “I always felt like it was one of the top collegiate courses in the country. When I’m recruiting, I know that if they can play well on our course, they can play well anywhere. The size of the greens and the length of the course presents an immense challenge for any player.”